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LIBRA^RY 

OF   THE 

Theological   Seminary, 

PRINCETON,    N.J.        » 

BX    5939    .S44    1835 

c^'    Seeker,    Thomas,    1693-1768. 

SI 
B 

Lectures   on   the   catechism  of 

the   Protestant   Episcopal 

"      " ■ 1 1 

Ik 


\ 


LECTURES 


ON   THE 


CATECHISM 


OF    THE 


PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH; 


WITH    A 


DISCOURSE  ON  CONFIRMATION, 


-^ 


BY  THOMAS  SECKER,  LL.  D. 

lATE    LORD   ARCHBISHOP   OF    CANTERBURY, 


Published  from  the  Original  Manuscripts, 
BY  BEILBY  PORTEUS,  D.  D.  AND  GEORGE  STINTON,  D,  ©. 

His  Grace's  Chaplains. 


FIRST  AMERICAN,   FROM  THE  1  4tH  LONDON  EDITION. 


COLUMBUS,  O. 

ISAAC    N.    WHITING. 

1835. 


Scott  Si  Waiatrr,  Frinten. 


PREFACE 

TO  THE 

FIRST  AMERICAN  EDITION. 

Few  prelatesof  the  Church  of  England  have  stood 
higher  for  exalted  piety,  respectable  talents,  and  ex- 
tensive learning,  than  the  excellent  Archbishop 
Secker.  Born  of  dissenting  parents,  he  was  design- 
ed by  his  friends  for  the  ministry  in  their  connexion, 
and  with  that  view  early  directed  his  attention  to 
Tiieological  studies;  but  in  their  prosecution  consci- 
entious scruples  arising  in  his  mind,  he  was  induced 
to  decline  the  appointment  of  a  pastor  among  the 
dissenters,  and  in  1722  received  orders  in  the  estab- 
lished church. 

His  frequent  and  rapid  preferments  speak  favora- 
bly of  the  high  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by 
the  friends  of  that  church. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  this  country, 
in  her  early  commencement  and  during  her  many 
struggles  for  existence,  is  also  much  indebted  to  him 
for  sound  advice  and  frequent  exertions  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Episcopate.  Indeed,  he  is  said  to 
have  greatly  excelled  all  his  predecessors  in  pleading 
the  cause  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  then  Co- 
lonies, and  particularly  in  urging  on  the  English  au- 
thorities, the  indispensable  necessity,  for  the  ultimate 
success  of  tho.  Church,  of  their  being  furnished  with 
a  full  supply  of  competent  Bishops. 


II  PREFACE. 

His  writings  are  voluminous,  and  distinguished  for 
sound  learning,  fervent  piety,  and  clear,  forcible  and 
striking  expositionsof  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Though 
at  times  eloquent,  and  his  style  marked  with  a  high 
degree  of  purity,  he  seems  never  to  have  been  ambi- 
tious of  embellishing  his  writings  with  the  mere  ele- 
gancies of  language,  nor  to  have  aimed  at  any  bril- 
liant displays  of  eloquence;  but  feeling  the  infinite  val- 
ue of  the  immortal  souls  intrusted  to  his  charge, he  ap- 
pears ever  solicitous  to  present  to  their  minds  the 
momentous  truths  of  the  gospel  in  all  their  plainness 
and  unadorned  simplicity. 

Of  all  his  writings,  it  is  believed,  no  part  of  them 
stands  more  deservedly  high,  than  his  Lectures  on 
the  Church  Catechism.  The  numerous  editions 
through  which  they  have  passed  in  England  attest 
the  high  estimation  in  which  they  arc  held  by  Episcopa- 
lians in  that  country;  while  in  this,  they  form  one 
among  the  number  of  those  works  recommended  by 
the  House  of  Bishops  for  the  formation  of  a  Parish 
Clergyman's  Librar3\  Perhaps  it  will  not  be  going 
too  far  to  say,  there  are  faw,  if  any  works  in  the  Eng- 
lish language,  which  comprise  in  the  same  compass, 
a  better  or  more  practical  system  of  theology. 

They  evince  an  intimate  acquaintance  of  the  au- 
thor with  his  subject,  his  possession  of  various  and 
extensive  learning,  and  at  the  same  time  they  are 
illustrated  and  enforced  by  profound  arguments,  they 
are  clothed  in  a  style  of  language  at  once  remarka- 
ble for  its  perspicuity  and  beautiful  simplicity. 

Early  to  instruct  her  members  in  tlie  fundamental 
truths  of  Christianity,  and  in  those  doctrines  and  pe- 


PREFACE.  HI 

euliarities  which  distinguish  her  from  otherdenomina- 
tions  of  christians,  has  at  all  times  been  a  prominent 
aim  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  both  in 
England  and  this  country.  And  it  has  been  frequent- 
ly remarked,  by  others  than  her  own  members,  that 
for  domestic  religion,  and  especially  for  the  religious 
education  of  the  young, herprovisions  are  unrivalled. 
Of  her  Catechism  it  lias  justly  been  observed,  by  a 
distinguished  writer  and  divine,*  that  "it  is  not  a 
large  system  or  body  of  divinity,  to  puzzle  the  heads 
of  young  beginners;  but  only  a  short  and  full  expli- 
cation of  the  baptismal  vow;"  and  in  this  respect,  as 
indeed  in  all  others,  "it  excels  all  Catechisms  that 
ever  were  in  the  world;  being  so  short,  that  the 
youngest  children  may  learn  it  by  heart,  and  yet  so 
full,  that  it  contains  all  things  necessary  to  be  known 
in  order  to  salvation." 

Such  being  the  character  and  value  of  this  Cate- 
chism, it  is  deeply  to  -be  regretted  that  it  occupies 
not  a  more  frequent  and  conspicuous  place  in  the 
Clerical,  F;imily,  and  Sunday  School  instructions  of 
the  Church  in  this  country.  Since  children  in  their 
baptism  engage '-to  renaunc.;  the  devil  and  all  his 
works,  the  pomps  and  vanity  of  this  wicked  world, 
and  all  the  sinful  lusts  of  lii'^  flesh;  to  believe  all 
the  Articles  oi  the  Christian  F nlh;  and  to  keep  God's 
holy  will  and  comm  mimjuls,  and  to  walk  in  the 
same  all  the  days  of  their  life,"  it  is  certainly  fit  and 
proper  that  they  should  b«  "f a  iglit,  so  soon  as  thej 
are  able  to  learn,  what  a  sole;ii;j  vow,  promise,  and 
profession,"  they  have  made.       Influenced  by  a  full 

*Dr.  Wheallv. 


conviction  that  the  following  Lectures  will  affbid 
valuable  aids  in  the  prosecution  of  this  interesting 
work,  and  under  the  hope  that  thej  may  conduce 
somewhat  to  a  more  general  attention  to  the  subject, 
the  Publisher  has  been  induced  to  present  an  Ameri- 
can Edition  of  them.  While  it  is  believed  they  will 
prove  essentially  beneficial  to  the  clergyman  in  the 
course  of  his  Catechetical  exercises,  to  Families  and 
Sunday  School  Teachers  more  especially,  they  can- 
not fail,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  of  being  impor- 
tant auxiliaries  in  their  arduous  and  responsible  em- 
ployment of  instructing  their  children  in  the  princi- 
ples of  our  holy  religion,  and  of  early  imbuing  their 
minds  with  a  love  of  God  and  a  veneration  of  his 
commands. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 
LECTURE 

I.  Introduction  -  -  * 

II.  Privileges  of  Baptism  .  -  18 

III.  Renunciation  in  Baptism       -  -  26 

IV.  Ob'ligations  to  believe  andtodo  -  34 
V.  Grounds  and  Rule  of  Faith  -  40 

CREEO. 

VI.  Article  i.  I  believe  in  God  the  Father,  &c.   49 
VII.  Article  ii.  And  in  Jesus  Christ  his  only- 
Son  our  Lord  _  -  -  57 
VIII.  Article  iii.  Who  was  conceived  by  the 

Holy'Ghost,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary  64 

IX.  Article  IV.    Suffered  under  Pontius  Pi- 
late, was  crucified,  dead  and  buried;  he       ^^ 
descended  into  Hell  .  -  i^ 

X.  Article  v.  The  third  Day  he  rose  again 

from  the  dead  -  -  "  ^^ 

XI.  Article  vi.  He  ascended  into  Heaven, 
and  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God  the 
Fatlier  Almighty     .  -  -  9^ 

XII.  Article  VII.  From  thence  he  shall  come 

to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead       -  9^ 

XIII.  Article°vin.  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost      108 

XIV.  Article  ix.  The  Holy  Catholic  Church, 

the  Communion  of  Saints  -  H' 

XV.  Article  x.  The  Forgiveness  of  Sins  126 

XVI    Articles  xt.  xii.  Part  i.  The  Resurrec- 
tion of  the  Body,  and  the  Life  everlast- 
ing -  -  -  " 
XVII.  Articles  xi.  xii.  Part  ii.  The  Resurrec- 
tion of  the  Body,  and  the  Life  everlast- 
ing             _            -            -  . 
XVIII.  The  first  Commandment      -            -  154 
XIX.  The  second  Commandment               -  163 
XX.  The  third  Commandment     -            -             1^2 
XXI.  The  fourth  Commandment    -            -  1''^ 


135 


145 


CONTENTS. 

LECTURE  PAGE 

XXII.  The  fifth  Commandment,  Part  i.      -  188 

XXIII.  The  fifth  Commandment,  Part  ii.     -  197 

XXIV.  The  sixth  Commandment      -             -  20& 
XXV.  The  seventh  Commandment              -  214 

XXVI.  The  eighth  Commandment  -  225 

XXVII.  The  ninth  Commandment    -  -  234 

XXVIII.  The  tenth  Commandment    -  -  243 

XXIX.  Of  Man's  Inability,  God's   Grace,  and 

Prayer  to  him  for  it  -  -  253 

THE    lord's  prayer. 

XXX.  Our  Father  which  art  in  Heaven,  hal- 
lowed be  thy  Name  -  -  262 

XXXI.  Thy  Kingdom  come,  thy  Will  be  done  269 
XXXII.  Give  us  this  Day  our  daily  Bread;  and 
forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  foi'give 

them  that  trespass  against  us         -  275- 

XXXIII.  And  lead  us  not  into  temptation;  but  de- 

liver us  from  Evil:  for  thine  is  the  King- 
dom, and  the  Power,  and  the  Glory,  for 

ever  and  ever.     Amen.       -  -  283 

XXXIV.  The  nature  and  number  of  the  Sacra- 

ments        -  -  r  -  290 

XXXV.  Of  Baptism  -  -  -  297 

XXXVI.  Of  the  Lord's  Supper,  Part  1.  -  306 

XXXVII.  Of  the  Lord's  Supper,  Part  II.  -  314 

XXXVIII.  Of  the  Lord's  Supper,  Part  iir.         -  320 

XXXIX.  The  Conclusion        -  -  -  326 

A  Sermon  qn  Confirmation    -  -  -■  33^ 


LECTURE   I. 


INTRODUCTION. 


In  all  matters  of  importance,  every  one  that  wants 
information,  should  first  seek  for  it,  then  attend  to  it: 
and  the  more  our  happiness  depends  upon  judging 
and  acting  right  in  any  case,  the  more  care  and  pains 
we  should  take  to  qualify  ourselves  for  both.  Now 
the  happiness  of  all  persons  depends  beyond  compa- 
rison chiefly  on  being  truly  religious.  For  true  reli- 
gion consists  in  three  things:  reasonable  government 
of  ourselves,  good  behaviour  towards  our  fellow- 
creatures,  and  dutifulness  to  our  Maker;  the  prac- 
tice of  which  will  give  us,  for  the  most  part,  health 
of  body  and  ease  of  mind,  a  comfortable  provision  of 
necessaries,  and  peace  with  all  around  us;  but,  how- 
ever, will  always  secure  to  us,  what  is  infinitely  more 
valuable  still,  the  favor  and  blessing  of  God;  wIk), 
on  these  terms,  will  both  watch  over  us  continually, 
with  a  fatherly  kindness  in  this  life,  and  bestow  on 
us  eternal  felicity  in  the  next. 

Since,  therefore,  whoever  is  religious  must  be  hap- 
py, the  great  concern  of  every  one  of  us  is  to  know 
and  observe  the  doctrines  and  rules  which  religion 
delivers.  Now  we  all  come  into  the  world  ignorant 
of  these;  and  our  faculties  are  so  weak  at  first,  and 
gain  strength  so  slowly;  and  the  attention  of  our  ear- 
lier years  to  serious  things  is  so  small;  that  even  were 
our  duty  to  comprehend  no  more  than  our  own  reason 
could  teach  us,  few,  if  any,  would  learn  it  sufficiently 
without  assistance;  and  none  so  soon  as  they  would 
need  it.  They  would  come  out  into  a  world  full  of 
dangers,  every  way  unprepared  for  avoiding  them; 
would  go  wrong  in  the  very  beginning  of  life,  per- 

B2 


10  LECTURE   I. 

haps  fatally;  at  least  would  hurt,  if  they  did  not  ruin 
themselves;  and  make  their  return  into  the  right  path 
certainly  difiicult,  and  probably  late. 

But  we  must  consider  yet  further,  that  reason, 
were  it  improved  to  the  utmost,  cannot  discover  to  us 
all  that  we  are  to  believe  and  do:  but  a  large  and 
most  important  part  of  it  is  to  be  learnt  from  the 
Revelation  made  to  us  in  God's  Holy  Word.  And 
this,  though  perfectly  well  suited  to  the  purposes  for 
which  it  was  designed,  yet,  being  originally  deliver- 
ed at  very  distant  times,  to  very  different  sorts  of  per- 
sons, on  very  different  occasions;  and  the  several  ar- 
ticles of  faith  and  precepts  of  conduct,  which  it  pre- 
scribes, not  being  collected  and  laid  down  methodi- 
cally in  any  one  part  of  it,  but  dispersed  with  irregular 
beauty  through  the  whole,  as  the  riches  of  nature  are 
through  the  creation;  the  informations  of  the  more 
knowing  must  be  in  many  respects  needful,  to  pre- 
pare the  more  ignorant  for  receiving  the  benefits  of 
which  they  are  capable  from  reading  the  Scripture. 
And  particularly  giving  them  beforehand  a  summary 
and  orderly  view  of  the  principal  points  comprehend- 
ed in  it,  will  qualify  them  better  than  any  otiier  thing 
to  discern  its  true  meaning,  so  far  as  is  requisite,  in 
each  part. 

Therefore,  both  in  what  reason  of  itself  dictates, 
and  what  God  hath  added  to  it,  instruction  is  neces- 
sary, especially  for  beginners.  And,  indeed,  as  they 
are  never  left  to  find  out  by  their  own  abilities  any 
other  sort  of  useful  knowledge,  but  always  helped,  if 
possible;  it  would  be  very  strange,  if,  in  the  most  im- 
portant kind,  the  same  care  at  least  were  not  taken. 
But  besides  enlightening  the  ignorance  of  persons, 
instruction  doth  equal,  if  not  greater  service,  by  pre- 
venting or  opposing  their  prejudices  and  partialities. 
From  our  tenderest  age  we  have  our  wrong  inclina- 
tions, and  are  very  prone  to  form  wrong  notions  in 
support  of  them;  but  which  we  are  extremely  back- 
ward to  acknowledge,  and  very  apt  to  model  our  re- 
ligion in  such  manner  as  to  leave  room  for  our  faults. 


LECTURE    I.  11 

Now  right  explanations  clearly  delivered,  and  right 
admonitions  pressed  home,  in  early  days,  may  pre- 
serve persons  from  thus  deceiving  themselves,  and 
guard  them  against  future,  as  well  as  present  dangers. 
Nay,  thougli  slighted,  and  seemingly  forgotten  for  a 
time,  they  may  still  keep  secretly  such  a  hold  upon 
the  mind  as  will  sooner  or  later  bring  those  back,  who 
would  else  never  have  seen,  or  never  have  owned, 
that  they  had  lost  their  way. 

But  a  still  farther  advantage  of  instruction  is,  that 
bringing  frequently  before  persons'  eyes  those  truths 
on  which  they  would  oliierwise  seldom  reflect,  though 
ever  so  much,  convinced  of  them,  it  keeps  the  thoughts 
of  their  duty  continually  at  hand,  to  resist  the  temp- 
tations with  which  they  are  attacked.  Thus  their 
lives  and  their  minds  are  insensibly  formed  to  be  such 
as  they  ought:  and  being  thus  '  tfained  up  in  the  way 
wherein  they  should  go,'  there  is  great  hope,  that 
'  they  will  not  afterwards  depart  from  it.'  " 

Nor  doth  I'eason  only,  but  experience  too,  show  the 
need  of  timely  institution  in  piety  and  virtue.  For 
is  it  not  visible,  that  principally  for  want  of  it,  mul- 
titudes of  unhappy  creatures,  in  all  ranks  of  life,  set 
out  from  the  first  in  sin,  and  follow  it  on  as  securely 
as  if  it  was  the  only  way  they  had  to  take;  do  un- 
speakable mischief  in  the  world,  and  utterly  undo 
themselves,  body  and  soul:  whilst  others  of  no  better 
natural  dispositions,  but  only  bettei  taught,  are  harm- 
less and  useful,  esteemed  and  honored,  go  through  life 
with  comfort,  and  meet  death  with  joyful  hope! 
There  are  doubtless,  in  such  numbers,  exceptions  on 
both  sides;  but  this  is  undeniably  the  ordinary,  the 
probable,  the  always  to  be  expected  course  of  things. 
Therefore  seriously  consider,  will  you  despise  reli- 
gious knowledge,  and  be  like  the  former  miserable 
wretches?  or  will  you  embrace  it,  and  be  happy,  with 
the  latter,  here  and  to  eternity? 

But  it  is  not  sufficient  that  you  be  willing  to  receive 
instruction,  unless  they  also,  to  whom  the  care  be- 

a   Prov.  ixii.  6. 


12  LECTURE    t. 

longs,  are  willing  to  give  it.  Now  that  care  of  giving 
it  belongs  to  different  persons  in  different  cases.  In 
the  case  of  children,  it  usually  belongs,  in  a  peculiar 
degree,  to  their  parents,  who,  having  been  the  means 
of  bringing  them  into  the  world,  are  most  strongly 
bound  to  endeavor  that  their  being  may  prove  a  bene- 
fit, and  not  a  cause  of  lamentation  to  them;  and  hav- 
ing been  endued  by  Heaven  with  tender  affections 
towards  them,  M'ill  be  doubly  sinners  against  them, 
if  they  are  guilty  of  that  worst  of  cruelty,  not  teach- 
ing them  their  duty;  without  which  also,  and  it  de- 
serves a  very  serious  consideration,  they  can  no  more 
hope  for  comfort  in  them  here,  than  for  acceptance 
with  God  hereafter.  And,  therefore,  both  the  Old 
Testament  directed  the  Jews  to  '  teach  their  children 
diligently  the  words  which  God  had  commanded 
them;'"  and  the  New  enjoins  Christians  to  'bring 
up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of 
the  Lord.'*  Sometimesy  indeed,  want  of  leisure — 
sometimes,  of  knowledge  and  ability,  obliges  parents 
to  commit  part  (it  may  be  a  considerable  one)  of  the 
instruction  of  their  children  to  other  persons.  But 
far  from  being  ever  discharged  of  the  wiiole  burthen, 
they  must  always  remember,  that  unless  they  assist 
and  enforce  what  others  endeavor,  it  will  seldom 
produce  any  valuable  effect;  and  much  less,  if  some 
of  the  things,  which  their  children  hear  them  say, 
and  see  them  do,  almost  evt^ry  day,  are  directly  con- 
trary to  those  which  they  pretend  they  would  have 
them  believe  and  learn. 

The  persons  on  whom  usually  this  care  is  devolved 
by  parents,  are  masters  and  mistresses  of  schools,  and 
afterwards  tutors  in  colleges,  who  ought  never  to 
omit  furnishing  children,  amongst  other  knowledge, 
plentifully  with  that  which  is  the  most  necessary  of 
all;  but  constantly  to  employ  the  influence  which 
they  have  on  their  minds,  and  the  knowledge  which 
they  acquire  of  their  tempers,  in  exciting  them  to 
good,  and  preserving  them  from  evil,  as  much  as  they 

a  Deut.  vi.  7-  b  Ephea.  vi.  4. 


LECTURE    I.  13 

can.  And  parents  ought  first  absolutely  to  require 
this  of  them,  and  then  examine  diligently,  from  time 
to  time,  whether  it  be  done.  But  especially  masters 
and  mistresses  of  charity  schools,  which  arc  founded 
purposely  to  give  the  children  of  the  poor  an  early 
and  deep  tincture  of  religion  and  virtue,  should  look 
upon  it  as  by  far  their  principal  business  to  teach 
them,  not  merely  outward  ol)servances  and  forms  of 
good  words,  but  such  an  inward  sense  and  love  of 
their  duty  to  God  and  man,  as  may  secure  them,  if 
possible,  from  that  lamentable  depravity,  into  which 
the  lower  part  of  the  world  is  falling;  and  which  it 
is  highly  the  interest  of  their  superiors,  if  they  would 
but  understand  their  interest,  to  restrain  and  correct. 

As  the  care  of  children  belongs  to  their  parents 
and  teachers,  so  doth  that  of  the  servants  to  the 
heads  of  the  families  in  which  they  live.  And  there- 
fore it  is  mentioned  in  Scripture  by  God  himself,  as 
a  distinguishing  part  ol  the  character  of  a  good  man, 
that  '  he  will  command  his  hous(!hold  to  keep  the 
way  of  the  Lord,  to  do  justice  and  judgment.' "  For 
indeed  it  is  a  strong  and  a  requisite  proof  of  reve- 
rence to  our  Maker,  as  well  as  of  kindness  to  them, 
and  concern  for  our  own  interest,  to  direct  them  in 
the  way  of  their  duty,  or  procure  them  the  direction 
of  good  books  and  good  advice;  to  exhort  them  to 
the  more  private  exercises  of  religion;  to  contrive 
leisure  for  them  to  attend  the  appointed  solemn  ones, 
which  is  plainly  one  part  of  irivim^  (hrm,  as  the  Apos- 
tle requires,  zohat  is  just  and  equal ;''  and  to  see  that 
the  leisure  allowed  them  for  the  purpose,  be  honestly 
so  employed,  and  not  abused. 

For,  after  all,  the  most  valuable  instruction  for 
servants,  for  children,  and  for  all  persons,  is  the  pub- 
lic one  of  the  Church,  which  our  Saviour  himself 
hath  promised  to  bless  with  his  presence."  And 
therefore  it  is  a  rule  of  inexpressible  moment:  'Gath- 
er the  people  together;  men,  women,  and  children, 
and  the  stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates;  that  they 

a  Geo.  xviu.  19.  »  Col.  It.  1,  e  Matt,  xviii  20. 

B2 


14  LECTURE    r. 

may  hear,  and  that  they  may  learn,  and  fear  the 
Lord  your  God;  and  observe  to  do  all  the  words  of 
His  law:  and  that  their  children  which  have  not 
known  any  thing,  may  hear,  and  learn  to  fear  the 
Lord  your  God  as  long  as  ye  live.''' 

Whoever  else  may  fail  of  doing  their  duty,  we,  the 
ministers  of  Christ,  must  not  fail  'to  be  instant  in 
season,  and  out  of  season:'*  to  feed  the  young  with 
'  the  sincere  milk  of  the  Word,''=  and  to  '  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  poor.'*^  It  is  the  peculiar  glory  of 
Christianity,  to  have  extended  religious  instruction, 
of  which  but  few  partook  at  all  before,  and  scarce 
any  in  purity,  through  all  ranks  and  ages  of  men, 
and  even  women.  The  first  converts  to  it  were  im- 
mediately formed  into  regular  societies  and  assem- 
blies, not  only  for  the  joint  worship  of  God,  but  the 
farther  'edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ:' «  in  which 
good  work,  some,  of  course,  were  stated  teachers,  or, 
to  use  the  Apostle's  own  expression. '  catcchisers  in 
the  Word;'  others  taught  or  catechised.-^  For  cate- 
chising signifies  in  Scripture,  at  large,  instructing 
persons  in  any  matter,  but  especially  in  religion. 
And  thus  it  is  used,  Acts  xviii.  25,  where  you  read, 
'This  man  was  instructed  in  the  way  of  Ihe  Lord;' 
and,  Luke  i.  4,  where  again  you  read,  '  That  thou 
mayest  know  the  certainty  of  those  things,  wherein 
thou  hast  been  instructed.'  The  original  word,  in 
both  places,  is  catechised. 

But  as  the  different  advances  of  persons  in  know- 
ledge made  different  sorts  of  instructions  requisite, 
so  in  the  primitive  Church  different  sorts  of  teachers 
were  appointed  to  dispense  it.  And  they  who  taught 
so  much  only  of  the  Christian  doctrine  as  might 
qualify  ihe  hearers  for  Christian  communion,  had  the 
name  of  catechists  appropriated  to  them;  whose 
teaching  being  usually,  as  was  most  convenient,  in 
a  great  measure,  by  way  of  question  and  answer; 
the  name  of  catechism  hath  now  been  long  confined 

a  Deut.  xxxi.  12,  13.  b  2  Tim.  iv.  2.  c  1  Pet.  ii.  2. 

4  Matt.  xi.  5.  «  Eph.  ir.  12-  /  Gal.  vi.  6, 


LECTURE    r.  15 

lo  such  instruction  as  is  given  in  that  form.  But  the 
method  of  employing  a  particular  set  of  men  in  tliat 
work  only,  is  in  most  phiccs  laid  aside.  And  I  hope 
you  will  not  be  losers,  if  they  who  are  appointed  to 
the  higher  ministries  of  the  Church  attend  to  this 
also. 

Under  the  darkness  of  Popery,  almost  all  religious 
instruction  was  neglected.  '  V^ery  few,'  to  use  the 
words  of  one  of  our  homilies,  'even  of  the  most  sim- 
ple people,  were  taught  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Arti- 
cles of  the  Faith,  or  the  Ten  Commandments,  other- 
wise than  in  Latin,  which  they  understood  not:'*^  so 
that  one  of  the  rirst  necessary  steps  taken  towards 
the  Reformation,  in  this  country,  was  a  general  in- 
junction, that  parents  and  masters  should  first  learn 
them  in  their  own  tongue,  then  acquaint  their  chil- 
dren and  servants  with  them:*  which  three  main 
branches  of  Christian  duty,  comprehending  the  sum 
of  what  we  are  to  believe,  to  do,  and  to  petition  for, 
were  soon  after  formed,  with  proper  explanations  of 
each,  into  a  catechism.  To  this  was  added,  in  pro- 
cess of  time,  a  brief  account  of  the  two  Sacraments; 
altogether  making  up  that  very  good,  though  still 
improvable,  form  of  sound  words, '^  which  we  now 
use. 

And  that  it  may  be  used  effectually,  the  laws  of  the 
land, both  ecclesiastical  and  civil, require  notonly  min- 
isters to  instruct  their  parishioners  in  it,  but  parents, 
and  masters  and  mistresses  of  families,  to  send  their 
children  and  servants  to  be  instructed;  meaning  evi- 
dently, unless  they  made  some  other  more  convenient 
provision,  to  answer  the  same  end.*     For  promoting 

«  Homily  against  rebellion,  part  6. 

b  See  Wake's  Dedication  of  bis  Commentary  on  the  Church  CatechiBm. 

c  2  Tim.  i.  13. 

«  It  is  to  be  regretted,  that  this  excellent  regulation  of  the  Church  is  not 
more  generally  observed  in  this  country.  The  rubricks  require,  that  '  Ti>« 
minister  of  every  parish  shall,  dilicietitly,  upon  Sundays  and  holy  days,  or  on 
■ome  other  convenient  occasions,  openly  in  the  Church,  instruct  or  examine 
■o  many  children  of  his  parish,  sent  unto  him,  as  lie  shall  think  convenient,  ia 
tome  part  of  the  catechism.' 

•  And  all   fathers,  mothers,  masters,  and  mistresses,  shall  cause  their  ebtt> 


16  LECTURE    I. 

religious  knowledge  and  practice  is  not  only  fhe  ex- 
press design  of  ail  church  governnnent,  but  a  matter 
(would  to  God  it  were  well  considered)  of  great  im- 
portance to  the  State  also:  since  neither  private  life 
can  be  happy,  nor  the  public  welfare  secured  for  any 
long  time,  without  the  belief  of  (he  doctrines,  and 
observance  of  the  duties  of  Christianity,  for  which 
catechising  the  young  and  ignorant  lays  the  firmest 
foundation. 

It  must  be  owned,  the  catechism  of  our  Church  is, 
as  it  ought  to  be,  so  clear  in  the  main,  as  to  need  but 
little  explaining,  all  things  considered.  But  then  it 
is  also,  as  it  ought  to  be,  so  short,  as  to  leave  much 
room  for  setting  forth  the  particulars  comprehended 
under  its  g<'neral  heads;  for  confirming  both  these 
by  reason  and  Scripture;  and  for  imprinting  the 
whole  on  the  consciences  and  affections  of  the  learn- 
ers. This,  theiefore,  I  shall  endeavor  to  do,  in  the 
sequel  of  these  discourses,  as  clearly  and  familiarly 
as  I  am  able. 

In  the  nature  of  the  thing,  nothing  new  or  curious 
ought  to  have  ariy  place  in  such  an  exposition,  as  in- 
deed such  matters  ought  to  have  little  place  in  any 
public  teaching  of  God's  Word,  but  least  of  all, 
where  only  the  plain  and  fundamental  t'-uths  of  our 
common  faith  are  to  be  taught,  confirmed,  and  re- 
commended, in  a  plain  way.  And  yet,  as  these 
truths  are  of  all  others  the  most  necessary,  the  plain- 
est things  tha(  can  be  said  about  them,  may  deserve 
the  attention  of  all  sorts  of  peisons;  especially  as  it 
is  but  too  possible,  that  some  of  all  sorts  may  never 
have  been  taught  sufficiently  even  the  first  princi- 
ples of  religion,  and  that  many  may  by  no  means  have 
sufficiently  relMined,and  considered  since,  what  they 
learned  in  their  early  years:  but  preserving  scarce 
more  in  their  minds  than  the  bare  words,  if  so  much, 

dren,  servants  and  apprentices,  w):o  lave  not  learned  tlieir  catechism,  tororaa 
to  Ctmrcli  at  tl  e  time  appointed,  and  olediently  to  1  car,  and  to  be  ordered  by 
the  minister,  until  such  time  as  tliey  Lave  learned  all  tliat  ia  bare  appointed  for 
thom  to  learn.'— Amer.  Eoitiox. 


LECTURE    I.  17 

may  be  little  the  better,  if  at  all,  for  the  lessons  of 
their  childhood.  To  which  it  might  be  added,  that 
every  one  hath  need,  in  a  greater  degree,  or  a  less, 
if  not  to  be  informed,  yet  to  be  reminded  and  excited. 

liCt  me  beg,  therefore,  that  all  who  have  cause  to 
hope  they  may  receive  benefit,  would  attend  when 
they  are  ai)le:  and  that  all  who  have  children  or 
servants,  would  bring  or  send  them.  This  is  not  a 
day  of  business.  It  ought  not  to  be  a  day  of  idle 
amusements.  It  is  appointed  for  the  public  worship 
of  God,  and  learning  of  his  will.  This  is  one  of  the 
hours  of  his  ^\orship:  it  is  that  part  of  the  day  in 
which  you  are,  most  of  you,  more  at  liberty,  than  you 
are  in  any  other.  And  what  will  you  say  for  your- 
selves hereafter,  if  when  you  have  the  most  entire 
leisure,  you  choose  rather  to  do  any  thing,  or  nothing, 
than  to  serve  your  Maker,  and  improve  in  the  know- 
ledge of  your  duty?  Never  was  there  more  danger 
of  being  infected  with  the  evil  of  every  sort,  from 
conversation  in  the  world.  Surely,  then,  you  should 
endeavor  to  fortify  yourselves,  and  those  who  belong 
lo  you,  witii  proper  antidotes  against  it.  And  where 
will  you  iind  better,  than  in  the  house  of  God?  But 
particularly  I  both  charge  and  beg  you,  children,  to 
mark  diligently  what  I  shall  say  to  you:  for  all  that 
you  learn  by  rote  will  be  of  no  use,  unless  you  learn 
also  to  understand  it.  The  exposition,  which  you  are 
taught  along  with  }our  catechism,  will  help  your  un- 
derstanding very  much,  if  you  mind  it  as  you  ought: 
and  what  you  will  hear  from  me  may  be  a  yet  further 
help.  For  if  there  should  be  some  things  in  it  above 
your  capacities,  yet  I  shall  endeavor,  to  the  best  of 
my  power,  that  most  things  may  be  easy  and  plain  to 
you.  And,  I  entreat  you,  take  care  that  they  be  not 
lost  upon  you.  You  are  soon  going  out  into  the 
world,  where  you  will  hear  and  see  abundance  of 
what  is  evil.  For  Christ's  sake,  lay  in  as  much  good, 
in  the  mean  while,  as  you  can,  to  guard  you  against  it. 

But  indeed,  it  behoves  us  all,  of  whatever  age  or 
station  we  be,  to  remember,  that  the  belief  and  prac- 


18  LECTURE    II. 

tice  of  true  religion,  arc  what  we  are  every  one  equal- 
ly concerned  in.  For  without  them,  the  greatest 
person  upon  earth  will,  in  a  very  few  years,  be  com- 
pletely miserable:  and  with  them,  the  meanest  will 
be  eternally  happy.  '  O  hear  ye  this,  all  ye  people; 
ponder  it,  all  ye  that  dwell  in  the  world;  high  and 
low,  rich  and  poor,  one  with  another.'"  'Apply 
your  hearts  to  instruction,  and- your  ears  to  the  words 
of  knov/ledge.'  *  '  For  whoso  findeth  wisdom,  findeth 
life;  and  shall  obtain  ftivor  of  the  Lord.  But  he  that 
sinnelh  against  her,  wrongeth  his  own  soul:  and  they 
that  hate  her,  love  death.''= 


LECTURE   II. 

PUIYILEGES    OF    BAPTISM. 

The  catechism  of  our  Church  begins  with  a  pru- 
dent condescension  and  familiarity,  by  asking  the 
introductory  questions,  ivhat  is  your  name?  and,  who 
gave  you  this  name?  which  lead  very  naturally  the 
person  catechised  to  the  mention  of  his  baptism,  at 
which  time  it  was  given  him.  Not  that  giving  a 
name  is  any  necessary  part  of  baptism;  but  might 
have  been  done  either  before  or  afterwards,  though 
it  hath  ahvays  been  done  then,  as  indeed  it  was  likely 
that  the  first  public  opportunity  would  be  taken  for 
that  purpose.  But  besides,  it  was  no  uncommon 
tiling  in  ancient  times,  tliat  when  a  person  entered 
into  the  service  of  a  new  master,  he  had  a  new  name 
bestowed  on  him.  Whence,  perhaps,  the  Jews 
might  derive  the  practice  of  naming  the  child  when 
it  was  circumcised;  it  being  then  devoted  to  the 
service  of  God.  The  tirst  (Christians,  in  imitation  of 
them,  would  of  course  do  the  same  thing,  for  the 
same  reason,  when  it  was  baptized:  and  no  wonder 
that  we  continue  the   practice.     For  it  might  be  a 

a  Ps.  xlix.  1,2.  i  Prov.  xxiii.  12.  «  Prov.  viii.  35, 36. 


LECTURE    II.  1^ 

very  useful  one,  if  persons  would  but  remember  what 
it  tends  to  remind  them  of,  that  they  were  dedicated 
to  Christ,  when  their  Christian  name  was  given  them; 
and  would  make  use  of  that  circumstance  frequently 
to  recollect  those  promises,  which  were  then  solemn- 
ly made  for  them;  and  which  tiiey  have  since  con- 
tirmcd,  or  are  to  coniirm  and  make  personally  for 
themselves.  Without  performing  these,  we  are 
Christians,  not  in  deed,  but  in  name  only,  and  shall 
greatly  dishonor  that  name,  while  we  bear  it  and 
boast  of  it. 

Our  baptismal  name  is  given  us,  not  by  our  parents, 
as  we  read  in  Scripture  the  name  of  Jewish  children 
was;  but  by  our  godfathers  and  godmothers.*  And 
this  custom  may  also  have  a  double  advan'age.  It 
may  admonish  them,  that,  having  conferred  the  title 
of  Christians  upon  us,  they  are  bound  to  endeavor,, 
that  we  may  behave  worthily  of  it.  And  it  may  ad- 
monish us,  that  our  name  having  been  given  us  by 
persons  who  were  our  sureties,  we  arc  bound  to  make 
good  their  engagements. 

But  the  oflice  and  use  of  godfathers  will  be  consi- 
dered under  one  of  the  following  questions.  The 
subject  to  be  considered  at  present,  though  not  fully, 
is  baptism.  For  this  being  our  first  entrance  into  the 
Christian  Church,  by  which  we  become  entitled  to 
certain  privileges,  and  obliged  to  certain  duties;  re- 
ligious instruction  begins  very  properly  by  teaching 
young  persons  what  both  of  them  are.  And  in  order 
to  recommend  the  duties  to  us,  the  privileges  are 
mentioned  first. 

Not  but  that  God  hath  an  absolute  right  to  our 
observance  of  his  laws,  without  informing  us  before- 
hand what  benefit  we  shall  reap  from  it.  Surely,  it 
would  be  enough  to  know,  that  he  is  Lord  and  King 
of  the  whole  earth;  and  that  all  his  dealings  with  the 
works  of  His  hands  are  just  and  reasonable.  Our 
business  is  to  obey,  and  trust  Him  with  the  conse- 

»  The  Church  in  this  country  admits  '  parents  as  eponsors,  if  it  be  deEireil.' 
— Ameb.  Ed. 


20  LECTURE    II. 

quences.  But  in  great  mercy,  to  encourage  and  at- 
tract his  poor  creature,  he  hath  been  pleased  to  enter 
into  a  covenant,  a  gracious  agreement  with  man: 
subiecting  himself,  as  it  were,  to  bestow  certain  bless- 
ings on  us,  provided  we  perform  certain  conditions. 
But  though,  in  this  covenant,  the  promises  made  on 
His  part,  flow  from  His  own  free  goodness:  yet  the 
terms  required  on  ours,  are  matter  of  necessary  obli- 
gation: and  what  was  altogether  voluntary  in  Him, 
firmly  binds  us.* 

Now  the  privileges  thus  conditionally  secured  to 
us  in  baptism,  we  find  in  our  catechism  very  fitly  re- 
duced to  these  three  heads:  that  the  person  who  re- 
ceives it,  'is  therein  made  a  member  of  Christ,  a 
child  of  God,  and  an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of 

Heaven.'  ■      ,\    4. 

I    The  first,  and  foundation  of  the  others,  is,  that 
he  is  made  a  memher  of  Christ.     This  figure  of  speech 
all  of  you  may  not  immediately  understand :  but  when 
it  is  understood,  you  will  perceive  in  it  great  strength 
and  beauty.     It  presupposes,  what  we  must  be  sensi- 
ble of,  more  or  less,  that  we  arc  every  one  originally 
prone  to  sin,  and  actually  sinners;  liable  thence  to 
punishment;  and  without  hopeofpreservingourselves, 
by  our  own  strength,  either  from  guilt  or  from  misery. 
It  further  implies,  what  the  Scripture  clearly  teach- 
es, that  Jesus  Christ  hath  delivered  us  from  both,  in 
such  manner  as  shall  hereafter  be  explained  to  you, 
on  the  most  equitable  terms  of  our  becoming  His,  by 
accepting  Him  from  the  hand  of  God  for  our  Saviour, 
our  Teacher,  and  our  Lord.     This  union  to  Him,  in 
order  to  receive  these  benefits  from  Him,  our  cate- 
chism, in  conformity  with  the  language  of  Holy  Writ, 
compares  with  that  of  the  members  of  the  body  to 
the  head.     And  how  proper  the  comparison  is,  will 
easily  appear,  by  carrying  it  through  the  several  par- 
ticulars, in  which  the  similitude  holds. 

As,  in  every  living  creature,  perception  and  mo- 
tion proceed  from  the  head,  so  to  every  Christian, 

,  See  JVaterland't  Review  of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Eucharist,  c.  xK 


LECTURE   11.  21 

knowledge  of  God's  will,  and  power  to  obey  it,  flow 
from  Christ.  As  the  head  governs  and  directs  each 
limb,  so  Christ  is  the  Sovereign  and  Law-giver  of 
each  believer;  as  being  joined  to  the  head  makes 
the  wlioie  body  one  animal  frame,  so  being  joined  to 
Christ  makes  the  whole  number  of  Christians  one 
spiritual  society.  As  communication  with  the  head 
preserves  our  natural  life,  so  communion  with  Christ 
supports  our  religious  life.  He,  therefore,  is  to  the 
Church,  what  the  head  is  to  the  body:  and  each  per- 
son who  belongs  to  the  Church  is  a  member  of  that 
body,  or,  in  the  language  of  the  catechism,  'a  member 
of  Christ.'  For  He,  as  St.  Paul  expresses  it,  'is  the 
Head;  from  which  all  the  body,  having  nourishment 
ministered,  and  knit  together  by  joints  and  bands, 
increaseth  with  the  increase  of  God.'" 

And  this  manner  of  speaking  is  frequently  repeat- 
ed in  Scripture,  as  it  well  deserves,  being  not  only, 
as  you  have  seen,  admirablj'  fitted  to  represent  the 
happy  relations  in  which  we  stand  to  our  Redeemer, 
but  also  to  remind  us  of  the  duties  which  are  derived 
from  them;  of  the  honor  a.id  obedience  due  to  Him 
who  is  '  Head  over  all  things  to  his  body,  the  Church  ;** 
of  our  continual  dependence  on  him,  'since  he  is  our 
life,'''  and  of  the  tenderness  and  kindness  which  we 
owe  to  our  fellow  Christians,  and  they  to  us,  being  all 
united,  through  him,  so  intimately  to  each  other.  For 
since,  as  the  Apostle  argues,  'by  one  Spirit  we  are  all 
baptized  into  one  body:'  as  in  the  natural  body,  'the 
eye  cannot  say  unto  the  hand,  I  have  no  need  of  thee, 
nor  any  one  member  to  the  rest,  I  have  no  need  of 
you;  but  even  the  more  feeble  and  less  honorable 
members  are  necessary  :''^  so  in  the  spiritual  body, 
they  who  in  any  respect  may  seem  to  excel  others, 
ought  by  no  means  to  despise  them;  since  every  good 
Christian  is,  in  his  proper  degree  and  place,  both  a 
valuable  and  a  useful '  member  of  Christ.'  And  again : 
as  in  the  natural  body  there  is  a  connection  and  sym- 

aCol.  ii.  19.     6  Eph.  i.  22,  23.    e  Col.  iii.  4.     d  1  Cor.  xii.  13,  21,  22,  23. 
C 


22  LECTURE   II. 

pathy  of  the  several  parts,  by  which  the  good  state 
of  one  preserves  the  others  in  health  and  ease,  or  its 
bad  state  gives  them  pain  and  disorder;  so  should 
there  be  in  the  spiritual  bod}',  and  there  is  in  all  true 
members  of  it,  a  mutual  caution  not  to  do  harm  to 
each  other,  and  a  mutual  desire  of  each  others'  bene- 
fit. '  If  one  member  suffer,  all  the  other  members 
should,  by  a  compassionate  temper,  suffer  with  it;' 
and  'if  one  member  be  honored,  all'  the  rest  should 
sincerely  '  rejoice  with  it.'-^  Think  then,  do  you  feel 
in  your  hearts  this  good  disposition,  as  a  mark  of  be- 
ing members  of  Christ?  If  not,  study  to  form  your- 
selves to  it  without  delay. 

2.  The  second  privilege  of  Baptism  is,  that  by  it 
'we  are  made  the  children  of  God,'  in  a  sense  and 
manner  in  which  by  nature  we  are  not  so. 

Our  blessed  Saviour,  indeed,  is  called  in  Scripture 
'the  only  begotten  Son  of  God.'  Nor  can  the  highest 
of  creatures  claim  God  for  his  Father  by  the  same 
right  that  he  doth.  But  in  a  lower  sense,  God  is  the 
Father  of  angels  and  men,  whom  he  hath  created  in 
their  several  degrees  of  likeness  to  his  own  image. 
jidam,  our  first  parent  was  the  Son  of  God  by  a  strong 
resemblance  to  his  Heavenly  Father  in  original  up- 
rightness. But  as  this  similitude  was  greatly  obscured 
both  in  him  and  his  descendants,  by  the  fall,  though 
preserved  by  the  covenant  of  the  promised  seed  from 
being  utterly  effaced,  so  in  time  it  was  almost  entirely 
lost  among  men,  by  the  prevalence  of  sin;  and  they 
became  in  general  enemies  of  God,=  and  children  of 
the  devil.  '^ 

But  our  gracious  Maker,  pitying  us  notwithstand- 
ing, and  treating  us  like  children,  even  when  thus 
degenerated,  hath  mercifully  appointed  a  method  for 
adopting  us  into  his  family  again,  after  we  have  cast 
ourselves  out  of  it,  and  for  restoring  and  raising  us 
gradually  to  the  same  and  greater  likeness  to  him  and 
favor  with  him,  than  even  our  first  parents  ever  en- 
joyed.    Now  this  inestimable  blessing  was  procured 

/  1  Cor.  xii.  26.  g  Rom.  v.  10;  Co),  i.  21.  A  1  John  iii.  10. 


LECTURE   II.  23 

for  mankind  through  the  means  of  Jesus  Christ;  and 
we  become  entitled  to  it  by  taking  him  for  our  head, 
and  becoming  his  members,  in  such  manner  as  }ou 
have  heard  briefly  exphiined.  For  'to  as  many  as 
receive  him,  to  them  gives  he  power  to  become  the 
sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  in  his  name.' " 
Being  therefore  thus  united  to  him,  who  is  in  the 
highest  sense  the  Son  of  God,  and  claiming  not  in 
our  own  name,  but  under  him,  we  arc  admitted  again 
into  such  a  degree  of  sonship  as  we  are  capable  of, 
and  made  the  '  Children  of  God,  by  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ.'* 

Indeed,  not  only  Christians,  l)ut  the  Jews,  are  call- 
ed in  Scripture  Mhe  children  of  God;' <=  and  such 
they  really  were;  being  first  as  Christians  were  af- 
terwards, the  'children  of  the  covenant.  '^  But  still, 
as  theirs  was  a  state  of  less  knowledge,  more  bur- 
thensome  precepts,  and  stricter  government;  the 
Apostle  speaks  of  them,  compared  with  us,  only  as 
servants  in  his  family.  '  Now  I  say,  that  the  heir, 
as  long  as  he  is  a  child,  difl'ereth  nothing  from  a  ser- 
vant, though  he  be  Lord  of  all.  Even  so  we,'  speak- 
ing of  the  Jewish  nation,  'when  we  v/erc  children,' 
unqualified  for  any  great  degrees  of  liberty,  '  were 
in  bondage  under  the  elements  of  the  world.  But 
when  the  fulness  of  time  was  come,  God  sent  forth 
his  Son,  to  redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law. 
AVhorefore  we  are  no  more  servants,  but  sons.'  ^  '  Be- 
hold then,'  as  St.  John  expresses  it, 'what  manner 
of  love  the  Father  hath  bestowed  upon  us,  that  we 
should  be  called,'  in  this  distinguished  sense, '  the 
sons  of  God;' -^  especially  consideringthe  consequence 
drawn  by  St.  Paul, '  if  children,  then  heirs;  heirs  of 
God,  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ :'»   which  is  the 

3.  Third  and  last  privilege  of  Baptism,  and  com- 
pletes the  value  of  it,  that  by  entering  into  the  Christ- 
ian covenant,  we  are  made  inheritors  of  the  kingdom 
of  Heaven;  that  is,  entitled   to   perfect   and   endless 

a  John  i.  12.  ft  Gal.  iii.26.         c  Deut..xiv  .1..         d  Acts  iii.  25. 

<  Gal,iv.l,3,4,7.      /  1  John  iii.  1.      g- Rom.  vui.  17. 


24  LECTURE    II. 

happiness  in  body  and  soul.  Had  we  continued  in 
the  primitive  uprightness  of  our  first  parents,  and 
never  sinned  at  all,  we  could  have  had  no  claim,  hut 
from  God's  free  promise,  to  any  thing  more,  than  that 
our  being  should  not  be  worse  to  us  than  not  being. 
But  as  we  are  originally  depraved,  and  have  actually 
sinned,  far  from  having  any  claim  to  happiness,  we 
are  liable  to  just  punishment  for  ever.  And  least  of 
all,  could  we  have  any  claim  to  such  happiness  as 
eternal  life  and  glory.  But '  blessed  be  the  God  and 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ:  who  of  His  abund- 
ant mercy  hath  begotten  us  again  unto  a  lively  hopej 
to  an  inheritance  incorruptible  and  undefiled,  and 
that  fadeth  not  away, reserved  in  Heaven  for  us.''' 

These  then  are  the  privileges  of  the  Christian 
covenant.  As  for  those  who  have  no  knowledge  of 
that  covenant,  the  Apostle  hath  told  us  indeed,  that 
'  as  many  as  have  sinned  without  law,  shall  perish 
without  law:'*  but  he  hath  told  us  also,  that  'when 
the  Gentiles  which  have  not  the  law,  do  by  nature 
the  things  contained  in  the  law,  they  are  a  law  unto 
themselves.' ''  And  whether  none  of  them  shall  at- 
tain to  any  degree  of  a  better  life,  is  no  concern  of 
ours;  who  may  well  be  contented  with  the  assurance, 
that  our  own  lot  will  be  a  happy  one  beyond  all  com- 
parison, if  we  please.  He  who  hath  shown  the 
abundance  of  His  love  to  us,  will  undoubtedly  shew, 
not  only  His  justice,  but  His  mercy,  to  all  the  works 
of  His  hands,  as  far,  and  in  such  manner,  as  is  fit. 
There  is,  indeed, 'None  other  name  under  heaven, 
given  among  men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved,'  but 
that  of 'Jesus  Christ.''^  But  whether  they  who  have 
not  had  in  this  life  the  means  of  calling  upon  it,  shall 
receive  any  benefit  from  Him;  or  if  an}-,  what  and 
how;  as  neither  Scripture  hath  told  us,  nor  reason 
can  tell  us,  it  is  presumptuous  to  determine,  and  use- 
less to  inquire. 

The  points  to  which  we  must  attend,  are  these^ 

a  1  Pet.  i.  3,  4.  *  Rom.  ii.  12. 

i  Koai.  ii.  II.  d  Acts  Iv.  10,12; 


LECTURE   II.  25 

which  relate  to  ourselves:  that  we  give  due  'thanks 
to  the  Father,  who  hath  made  us  meet  to  be  par- 
takers of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light,'"  and 
be  duly  careful  to  'walk  worthy  of  God,  who  hath 
called  us  to  His  kingdom  and  glor}'.'*  For  we  have 
a  right  to  the  privileges  of  the  covenant,  only  on  the 
supposition  and  presumption  of  our  performing  tiie 
obligations  of  it.  Children,  indeed,  of  believers,  who 
are  taken  out  of  the  world  before  they  become  capa- 
ble of  faith  and  obedience,  we  doubt  not,  are  happy. 
For  the  general  declarations  of  Holy  Writ  plainly 
comprehend  their  case:  and  our  Saviour  hath  par- 
ticularly declared,  that  'of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
God.'''  But  all  who  live  to  maturer  years;  as,  on 
the  one  hand,  they  may  entitle  themselves,  through 
God's  bountiful  promise,  though  not  their  own  merit, 
to  higher  degrees  of  future  felicity,  in  proportion  as 
their  service  hath  been  considerable;  so  on  the  other, 
they  are  entitled  to  no  degree  at  all,  any  longer  than 
they  practice  that  hoUness,  in  whicii  they  have  en- 
gaged to  live,  and  zoiihout  which  ?to  man  shall  see  the 
Lord.'^  Wc  shall  be  acknowledged  as  children,  only 
whilst  we  obey  our  heavenly  Father:  and  the  Baptism 
which  saveth  us,  is  not  the  oatwurd  putting  away  of  the 
filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  inward  ansioer  of  a  good  con- 
science tozvards  God.  *  Which,  therefore,  that  we  may 
all  of  us  be  able  always  to  make,  may  He  of  His  in- 
finite mercy  grant,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
Amen. 

a  Col.  i.  12.  b  Thcss.  ii.  12.  c  Mark  x.  14;  Luke  sviil.  16. 

d  Heb.  sii.  14.  e  1  Pet.  iii.  21. 


C2 


26  LECTURE  iir. 

LECTURE    III. 

RENUNCIATION    IN    BAPTISM. 

After  the  privileges  to  which  Baptism  gives  us  a 
claim,  our  catechism  proceeds  to  set  forth  the  duties 
to  which  it  binds  us:  those  things  'which  our  god- 
fathers and  godmothers  promised  and  vowed  in  our 
names.'  For  without  the  performance  of  these  con- 
ditions, neither  hath  God  engaged,  nor  is  it  consist- 
ent with  the  holiness  of  His  nature  and  the  honor  of 
His  government,  to  bestow  such  benelits  upon  us;  nor 
indeed  shall  we  be  capable  of  receiving  them.  For 
a  virtuous  and  religious  temper  and  behaviour  here, 
are  absolutely  requisite,  not  only  to  entitle,  but  to 
qualify  and  prepare  us  for  a  virtuous  and  religious 
blessedness  hereafter,  such  as  that  of  Heaven  is. 

Now  these  conditions,  or  obligations,  on  our  part, 
are  three:  that  we  renounce  v/hat  God  forbids:  that 
we  believe  wiiat  he  teaches,  and  do  what  he  com- 
mands; or,  in  other  words,  repentance,  faith  and 
obedience.  These  things  are  plainly  necessary;  and 
they  are  plainly  all  that  is  necessary:  for  as,  through 
the  grace  of  God,  we  have  them  in  our  power;  so 
we  have  nothing  more.  And  therefore  they  have 
been  constantly,  and  without  any  material  variation, 
expressed  in  Baptism  from  the  earliest  ages  of  the 
Church  to  the  present. 

The  first  thing,  and  the  only  one  which  can  be  ex- 
plained at  this  time,  is,  that  we  renounce  what  God 
forbids,  every  sin  of  every  kind.  And  this  is  put 
first,  because  it  opens  the  way  for  the  other  two. 
When  once  we  come  to  have  a  due  sense  that  we 
are  sinners,  as  all  men  are,  and  perceive  the  base- 
ness, the  guilt,  the  mischief  of  sin,  we  shall  fly  from 
it,  with  sincere  penitence,  to  the  remedy  of  faith 
which  God  hath  appointed.  And  when  we  in  ear- 
nest resolve  to  forsake  whatever  is  wrong,  we  shall 
gladly  embrace  all  such  truths  as  will  direct  us  right, 


LECTURE  III.  27 

and  do  what  they  require.  But  whilst  we  retain  a 
Jove  to  any  wickedness,  it  will  make  us,  with  respect 
to  the  doctrines  of  religion,  backward  to  receive 
them,"  or  unwilling  to  think  of  them,  or  desirous  to 
interpret  them  unfairly:  and  with  respect  to  the  du- 
ties of  religion,  it  will  make  our  conduct  unequal 
and  inconsistent;  perplexing  us  with  silly  attempts 
to  reconcile  vice  and  virtue,  and  to  atone  perhaps  by 
zeal  in  little  duties  for  indulgence  of  great  faults; 
till  at  last  we  shall  either  fall  into  an  open  course  of 
transgression,  or  which  is  equally  fatal,  contrive  to 
make  ourselves  easy  in  a  secret  one.  The  only  and 
effectual  method,  therefore,  is  to  form  a  general  re- 
solution at  once,  though  we  shall  execute  it  but  im- 
perfectly and  by  degrees,  of  following  in  every  thing 
the  Scripture  rule, '  Cease  to  do  evil,  learn  to  do 
well.'  * 

Now  the  evil,  from  which  we  are  required  to  cease, 
is  also  ranged  in  our  catechism,  under  three  heads. 
For  whatever  we  do  amiss,  proceeds  either  from  the 
secret  suggestions  of  an  invisible  enemy;  from  the 
temptations  thrown  in  our  way  by  the  visible  objects 
around  us,  or  from  the  bad  dispositions  of  our  own 
nature;  that  is,  from  the  devil,  the  world,  or  the 
flesh.  And  though  every  one  of  tliese,  in  their  turns, 
may  incline  us  to  every  kind  of  sin;  and  it  is  not  al- 
ways either  ea?y  or  material  to  know  from  which  the 
inclination  proceeded  originally;  yet  some  sins  may 
more  usually  flow  from  one  source,  and  some  from 
another:  and  it  will  give  us  a  more  comprehensive, 
and,  so  far  at  least,  a  more  useful  view  of  them,  if 
we  consider  them  each  distinctly. 

1.  First,  then,  we  renounce  in  Baptism,  the  devil 
and  all  his  works.  This,  in  the  primitive  ages,  was 
the  onh'  renunciation  made:  the  works  of  the  devil 
being  understood  to  signify,  as  they  do  in  Scripture, 
every  sort  of  wickedness:  which,   being  often  sug- 

a  Hence  our  Saviour,  speaking  o{  John  Baptist,  tells  the  Jews,  'Ye  repent- 
ed not,  that  ye  might  believe  him.'     Jilatt.  xxi.  32. 
b  Isaiah  i.  16, 17. 


l 


28  LECTURE   III. 

gested  by  him,  always  acceptable  to  him,  and  an 
imitation  of  him,  was  justly  considered  as  so  much 
service  done  him,  and  obedience  paid  him.  But  the 
method  now  taken,  of  renouncing  the  devil,  the 
world  and  the  flesh  separately,  is  more  convenient, 
as  it  gives  us  a  more  particular  account  of  our  several 
enemies. 

What  we  are  taught  concerning  tlie  devil,  and 
demons  or  wicked  spirits,  in  the  V7ord  of  God,  is, 
that  a  number  of  angels,  having  sinned  against  their 
Maker,  (from  what  motives,  or  in  what  instances,  we 
are  not,  as  we  need  not  be,  clearly  told,)  so  as  to  be 
utterly  unfit  for  pardon,  were  cast  out  from  Heaven, 
and  arc  kept  under  such  conhnement  as  God  sees 
proper,  till  the  day  comes,  when  the  tinal  sentence, 
which  they  have  deserved,  shall  be  executed  upon 
them:  but  that,  in  the  mean  time,  being  full  of  all 
evil,  and  void  of  all  hope,  they  maliciously  endeavor 
to  make  those,  whom  they  can,  wicked  and  misera- 
ble, like  themselves.  And  being  all  united  under 
one  head,  and  actuated  by  one  and  the  same  spirit 
of  ill-will  against  us,  we  are  concerned  to  look  upon 
them  as  one  enemy:  and  therefore  the  catechism 
speaks  of  them  as  such. 

What  means  they  use  to  tempt  us,  we  are  not  dis- 
tinctly informed:  and  it  is  great  folly,  either,  on  the 
one  hand,  to  doubt  of  the  reality  of  the  fact,  because 
we  know  not  the  manner;  or  on  the  other,  to  enter- 
tain groundless  imaginations,  or  believe  idle  stories; 
and  ascribe  more  to  evil  spirits,  than  we  have  any 
sufficient  cause.  For  there  is  no  religion  in  favoring 
such  fancies,  or  giving  credit  to  such  tales;  and  there 
hath  frequently  arisen  a  great  deal  of  hurtful  super- 
stition from  them.  This  we  are  sure  of,  and  it  is 
enough,  that  neither  satan  nor  all  his  angels  have 
power,  either  to  force  any  one  of  us  into  sin,  or  to 
hinder  us  from  repenting,  or,  without  God's  especial 
leave,  to  do  any  one  of  us  the  least  hurt  in  any  other 
way.  And  we  have  no  cause  to  think,  that  leave  to 
{Jo  hurt  is  ever  granted  to  them,  but  on  such  extraor-* 


LECTURE    III.  29 

dinary  occasions  as  arc  mentioned  in  Scripture. 
They  are  indeed  often  permitted  to  entice  us  to  sin, 
as  we  too  often  entice  one  another.  But  these  en- 
ticements of  evil  spirits  may  be  withstood  by  us  just 
as  etFcctuali}',  and  nearly  by  just  the  same  methods, 
as  those  of  evil  men.  'Resist  the  devil  and  he  will 
tlee  from  you:  draw  nigh  to  God,  and  he  will  draw 
nigh  to  3'ou.'"  Unquestionably,  our  danger  is  the 
greater,  as  we  have  not  only  flesh  and  blood,  our  own 
bad  inclinations,  and  the  allurements  of  other  bad 
persons  to  encounter,  but  the  efforts  of  an  invisible 
enemy  likewise.  And  therefore  it  was  great  mercy 
in  God,  to  grant  us  the  knowledge  of  this  interesting 
and  otherwise  undiscoverable  circumstance  of  our 
condition,  that  we  may  increase  our  watchfulness  in 
proportion.  And  if  we  do,  'greater  is  lie  that  is  in 
us,  than  he  that  is  in  the  world:'*  and  *he  will  not 
sulFer  us  to  be  tempted  above  that  we  are  able  to 
bear.'*^ 

But  though  the  devil  hath  no  power  of  his  own 
over  us,  wc  may  give  him  as  mucii  as  we  will;  and 
become  slaves  and  vassals  to  him  as  long  as  we 
please.  In  this  sense,  his  empire  is  very  large:  and 
on  account  of  it,  the  Scripture  calls  him  '  the  prince 
of  the  power  of  darkness,''^  and  even  'the  god  of  this 
world.'®  For  he  was,  and  is  still,  in  great  propriety 
of  speech,  the  god  of  many  heathen  nations;  who, 
instead  of  the  Righteous  and  Good  Maker  of  Heaven 
and  earth,  worsb.ip  deities  of  such  vile  and  mischiev- 
ous characters,  as  we  juslly  ascribe  to  t!ie  evil  one. 
And  even  where  faith  in  the  true  Deity  is  professed, 
yet  pretended  arts  of  magic,  witchcraft,  conjuring, 
fortune-telling,  and  such  like  wicked  follies,  approach 
more  or  less  to  the  same  crime.  For  if  any  of  the 
wretches,  guilty  of  these  things,  either  have,  or  ima- 
gine they  have,  any  communication  with  the  devil; 
they  plainly  rebel  against  God,  and  endeavor,  at 
least,  to  confederate  with  h.is   enemy.     Or  if  they 

a  Jam.  iv.  7,  8.  b  \  John  iv.  4.  «  1  Cor.  x.  13. 

d  Eph.  ii.  2;  Col.  i.  13.       e  2  Cor.  iv.  4. 


30 


LECTURE   III. 


only  pretend  a  communication  with  liim;  as  indeed 
usually,  if  not  always,  it  is  mere  pretence;  yet  this 
is  very  inconsistent  with  renouncing  him.  And  even 
when  they  do  not  so  much  as  pretend  it,  and  would 
make  us  believe,  that  they  have  such  extraordinary 
skill  and  power  derived  from  more  innocent  sources; 
though  they  profess  no  respect  to  his  person,  they  imi- 
tate him  in  one  of  his  worst  qualities,  as  he  is  the  father 
of  lies.  And  the  lies  of  this  kind  are  very  pernicious 
ones.  They  corrupt  the  notions  of  religion;  give  per- 
sons unworthy  opinions  of  God ;  and  lead  them  to  ima- 
gine, that  other  beings,  as  the  stars,  or  even  mere 
names,  as  chance  and  fate,  share  with  him  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  world.  But,  indeed,  lies  of  all  sorts 
are  peculiarly  the  works  of  him  who  was  a  liar,  as 
well  as  a  murderer  from  the  beginning."'  And  other 
sins  mentioned  in  Scripture,  as  more  especially  dia- 
bolical, are  pride,  envy,  malice,  false  accusations. 
Whosoever,  therefore,  allows  himself  in  any  of  these 
things, 'is  of  liis  father  the  devil,  and  the  lusts  of  his 
father  he  doth.*  But  whoever  is  by  Baptism  'deli- 
vered from  the  power  of  darkness,  and  transhited 
into  the  kingdom  of  God"s  dear  son, "  renounces  them 
all. 

Ask  yourselves,  then:  Do  you  renounce  them  all, 
in  fact?  For  mere  words  are  nothing.  Do  you  care- 
fully avoid  them,  and  labor  to  preserve  yourselves 
free  from  them:  or  do  you  live  in  any  of  them,  and 
love  them?  That  is,  are  you  children  of  God,  or  of 
satan;  and  whose  are  you  willing  to  remain?  Make 
us  thine,  good  Lord,  and  keep  us  so  forever! 

II.  We  renounce  in  Baptism,  eiU  the  pomps  and 
vanities  of  this  zvickcd  ivorlel.  The  worid,  which  God 
created,  was  good:  and  so  far  as  it  continues  good, 
we  renounce  it  not.  Therefore,  the  innocent  grati- 
fications, whicli  he  hath  provided  for  us  in  it,  we 
ought  not  to  condemn,  but  to  partake  of  them  with 
moderation  and  thankfulness:  the  difference  of  ranks 
and  stations,  which  is  requisite  for  the  due  order  of 

a  John  viii.  44.  *  John  viii.  44.  «  Col.  i.  13. 


LECTURE    in.  31 

society,  we  ought  to  maintain  with  prudent  humility: 
and  every  one  should  take  his  proper  part,  as  Provi- 
dence directs  him,  in  the  various  employments  which 
furnish   to   us  the    necessaries   and  conveniences   of 
life.     Laboring  to   procure  such   a  competency  for 
ourselves  and  ours,  as  will  support  us  comfortably  in 
our  present  condition,  is  what  we  are  bound  to.    And 
if,  by  lawful  methods  and   reasonable  care,  we  can 
rise  higher,  we  may  allowably  do  it,  and  justly  con- 
sider it  as  the  promised  blessing  of  God  upon  our  in- 
dustry.    In  these  respects,  then,  we  do  not  renounce 
the  world:  for   in  these  it  is  not   wicked.     And  we 
should  not  alTect  to  detach  ourselves  too  much  from 
the  state  of  things  in  which  Heaven  hath  placed  us: 
but  ordinarily   speaking,   take  our  share,  (whatever 
it  happens  to  be.)  and  that  contentedly,  of  such  em- 
ployments as   contribute  to  the    common  good.     If 
we  do  meet  with  difficult  trials  in  our  way,  as  they 
are  of  God's  choosing  for  us,  we  are  not  to  fly  from 
them  improperly,  but  trust  in  him  for  ability  to  go 
through  them  well.     And  they,  who  resolve  to  retire 
out  of  the  reach  of  all  such  temptations,  seldom  fail 
to  run  intomore  dangerous  ones  of  their  own  creating. 
We  ouglit  not,  therefore,  to  shun  what  our  Maker 
hath  appointed  us  to  engage  in:  but  then  we  ought 
to  engage  in  it  only  in  such  manner  as  he  hath  ap- 
pointed; and  to  recollect  continually,  ^  that  we  are  of 
God ^  and  the  whole  zcorld  licth  in  zcickcdness.^  '^     Not 
only  the  heathen  world  had  its  idolatrous  pomps,  or 
public  spectacles,  and  its  immoral   vanities,   which 
were  peculiarly  meant  in   this  renunciation  at  first; 
but  that,  which  calls  itself  Christian,  is  full  of  things 
from  which  a  true  Christian  must  abstain.     All  meth- 
ods of  being  powerful  or  popular,  inconsistent  with 
our  integrity;  all  arts  of  being  agreeable  at  the  ex- 
pense or  hazard  of  our  innocence;  and  all  immode- 
rate desires  of  adding  to  our  own;  all  diversions,  en- 
tertainments, and   acquaintances,  that  have  a  ten- 
dency to  hurt  our  morals  or  our  piety;  making  com- 

a  1  John  V.  19. 


32  LECTURE    III. 

mon  practice  the  rule  of  our  conduct,  without  con- 
sidering whether  it  be  right  or  wrong;  fiUing  our 
time  in  such  manner,  either  with  business  or  amuse- 
ments, (be  they  ever  so  innocent  in  themselves) 
as  not  to  leave  room  for  the  main  business  of  life,  the 
improvement  of  our  hearts  in  virtue,  the  serious  ex- 
ercise of  religion,  and  a  principal  attention  to  the 
great  concerns  of  eternity:  these  are  the  things,  in 
whicli  consist  that  'friendship  with  the  world,'  which 
'is  enmity  v/ith  God:'"  and  'if  any  man  love  it'  thus, 
'  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him.'  *  Which,  then, 
do  you  renounce,  and  which  do  you  choose?  The 
world,  or  the  Maker  of  it?  Surely,  you  will  adopt 
the  Psalmist's  words;  'I  cried  unto  thee,  O  Lord, 
and  said,  Thou  art  my  hope,  and  my  portion,  in  the 
land  of  the  living.'^ 

III.  We  renounce  at  our  Baptism,  all  the  sinful 
lusts  of  the  flesh,  that  is,  ever}'  unreasonable  and  for- 
bidden gratification  of  any  appetite  or  aversion  that 
belongs  to  the  human  frame.  Whatever  inclination 
is  truly  primitive  in  our  nature,  may  be  innocently 
gratified,  provided  it  be  in  a  lawful  manner,  and  a 
due  subordination  to  the  higher  principles  within  us: 
but  when  these  bounds  are  transgressed,  there  begins 
sin.  All  such  indulgence,  therefore,  in  eating  or 
drinking,  as  obscures  the  reason  of  persons,  inflames 
their  passions,  hurts  their  healths,  impairs  their  for- 
tunes, or  wastes  their  time;  all  slotli,  indolence,  and 
luxurious  delicacy;  all  wantonness,  impurity,  and  in- 
decency, with  whatever  tempts  to  it:  these  are  re- 
nounced under  this  head:  and  not  these  only;  but 
every  other  sin  that  hath  its  first  rise  within  our 
hearts.  For  in  the  language  of  religion,  as  the  spirit 
signifies  the  inward  principle  of  good,  so  doth  the 
flesh  that  of  all  evil.  Therefore,  vanity  and  self- 
conceit,  immoderate  anger,  ill  temper  and  hard- 
heartedness,  repining  at  the  good  of  others,  or  even 
at  our  own  disadvantages;  in  short,  whatever  dispo- 
sition of  our  souls  is  dishonorable  to  God,  prejudicial 

a  James  iv.  4.  6  1  John  ii.  15.  e  Psal.  cxlii.  6. 


LECTURE  iir.  33 

lo  our  neighbor,  or  unreasonable  in  itself,  falls  under 
the  same  denomination  with  the  aforementioned 
vices.  For  'the  works  of  the  flesh,'  saith  the  Apos- 
tle, '  are  manifest:  adultery,  fornication,  uncleanness, 
hatred,  variance,  wrath,  strife,  seditions,  envyings, 
and  such  like:  of  the  which  I  tell  you  before,  as  1 
also  told  you  in  time  past,  that  they  w^ho  do  such 
things  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.'"  'Let 
us  therefore  fear,  lest  a  promise  being  left  us  of  en- 
tering into  his  rest,  any  of  you  should  come  short  of 
it.'*  And  let  us  diligently  and  frequently  examine 
our  hearts,  whether  we  use  every  proper  method  to 
'cleanse  ourselves  fi-om  all  filthiness  of  flesh  and 
srjj.-it,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God-' ' 
^iut  before  1  conclude,  I  must  desire  yoa  to  ob- 
serve, concerning  each  of  the  things  which  we  re- 
nounce in  Baptism,  that  we  do  not  undertake  what 
is  beyond  our  power;  that  the  temptations  of  the 
devil  shall  never  beset  and  molest  us;  that  the  vain 
show  of  the  world  shall  never  appear  inviting  to  us; 
that  our  own  corrupt  nature  shall  never  prompt  or 
incline  us  to  evil:  but  we  undertake  w4iat,  through 
the  grace  of  God,  though  not  without  it,  is  in  our 
power:  that  we  will  not  either  designedly  or  care- 
lessly, give  these  our  spiritual  enemies  needless  ad- 
vantages against  us;  and  that,  with  whatever  advan- 
tage they  may  at  any  time  attack  us,  we  will  never 
yield  to  them,  but  always  resist  them  with  the  utmost 
prudence  and  strength.  This  is  the  renunciation 
here  meant:  and  the  oftice  of  Baptism  expresseth  it 
more  fully;  where  we  engage  'so  to  renounce  the 
devil,  the  world,  and  the  flesh,  that  we  will  not  fol- 
low nor  be  led  by  them.'  Now  God  grant  us  all, 
faithfully  to  make  this  engagement  good, '  that  after 
we  have  done  His  will,  we  may  receive  His  promise !'  ** 

a  Gal.  y.  19—21.         b  Heb.  iv.  1.         •  2  Cor.  rii.  1.         d  Heb.  x.  36. 

D 


34  LECTURE   IV. 

LECTURE    IV. 

OBLIGATION    TO    BELIEVE    AND    TO    DO,    &:C. 

Our  Catechism,  in  the  Answer  to  its  third  Ques- 
tion, teaches  that  three  things  are  promised  in  our 
name,  when  we  are  baptized:  that  we  shall  renounce 
what  God  forbic's,  beheve  what  he  makes  known, 
and  do  what  he  commands.  The  first  of  these  hath 
been  exphiined  to  you.  The  second  and  third  shall 
be  explained,  God  willing,  hereafter.  But  before 
the  Catechism  proceeds  to  them,  it  puts  a  fourth  ques- 
tion, and  a  very  natural  one,  considering  that  chil- 
dren do  not,  as  they  cannot,  promise  these  things  for 
themselves,  but  their  godfathers  and  godmothers  in 
their  names.  It  asks  them  therefore,  '  whether  they 
think  they  are  bound  to  believe  and  to  do,  as  they 
have  promised  for  them?'  And  to  this  the  person  in- 
structed answers,  'yes,  verily:'  the  fitness  of  which 
answer  will  appear  by  inquiring, 

1.  In  what  sense,  and  for  what  reason,  they  pro- 
mised these  things  in  our  names? 

2.  On  what  account  we  are  bound  to  make  their 
promises  good? 

1.  In  what  sense,  and  for  what  reason,  the}'  pro- 
mise these  things  in  our  names?  A  little  attention 
will  shew  you  this  matter  clearlj'. 

The  persons  who  began  the  profession  of  Christiani- 
ty in  the  world,  must  have  been  such  as  were  of  age, 
to  make  it  their  own  free  choice.  And  when  they 
entered  into  the  covenant  of  baptism,  they  undoubt- 
edly both  had  the  privileges  of  it  declared  to  them, 
and  engaged  to  perform  the  obligations  of  it,  in  some 
manner,  equivalent  to  that  which  we  now  use.  When 
these  were  admitted  by  baptism  into  the  christian 
church,  their  children  had  a  right  to  be  so  too,  as 
will  be  proved  in  the  sequel  of  these  Lectures:  at 
present  let  it  be  supposed.  But  if  baptism  had  been 
administered  to  children,  without  any  thing  said  to 


LECTUnE   IV.  35 

express  its  meaning,  it  would  have  had  too  much  the 
appearance  of  an  insignificant  ceremony,  or  a  super- 
stitious charm.  And  if  only  the  privileges  to  which 
it  is  entitled,  had  been  rehearsed;  they  might  seem 
annexed  to  it  absolutely,  without  any  conditions  to 
be  observed  on  the  childrens'  part.  It  was  therefore 
needful  to  express  the  conditions  also.  Now  it  would 
naturally  appear  the  strongest  and  liveliest  way  of  ex- 
pressing them,  to  represent  the  infant,  as  promising 
by  others  then,  what  he  was  to  promise  by  and  for 
himself,  as  soon  as  he  could.  So  the  form,  used  al- 
ready for  persons  grown  up,  was  applied,  with  a  few 
changes,  to  children  also.  And  though,  by  such  ap- 
plication, some  words,  and  phrases  must  appear  a 
little  strange,  if  they  were  strictly  interpreted;  yet 
the  intention  of  them  was  and  is  understood  to  be  a 
very  proper  one;  declaring  in  the  fullest  manner 
what  the  child  is  to  do  hereafter,  by  a  figure  and 
representation  made  of  it  at  present. 

But  then,  as  baptism  is  administered  only  on  the 
presumption,  that  this  representation  is  to  become,  in 
due  time,  a  reality:  so  the  persons,  who  thus  promise 
in  the  child's  name,  are  and  always  have  been  looked 
on  as  promising,  by  the  same  words,  in  their  own 
name,  not  indeed  absolutely,  that  the  child  shall  ful- 
fil their  engagements,  which  nobody  can  promise; 
but  that,  so  far  as  need  requires,  they  will  endeavor 
that  he  shall:  on  which  it  may  be  reasonably  sup- 
posed, that  he  will.  Anciently  the  parents  were  the 
persons,  who,  at  baptism,  both  represented  their  chil- 
dren, and  promised  for  their  instruction  and  admoni- 
tion. But  it  was  considered  afterwards,  that  they 
were  obliged  to  do  it  without  promising  it:  and 
therefore  other  persons  were  procured  to  undertake 
it  also:  not  to  excuse  the  parents  from  that  care  from 
which  nothing  can  excuse  them;  but  only,  in  a  case 
of  such  consequence,  to  provide  an  additional  secu- 
rity for  it.  If  then  the  parents  give  due  instruction, 
and  the  child  follows  it,  the  godfathers  have  nothing 
to  do,  but  to  be  heartily  glad.     But  if  on  either  side 


36 


IiECTUKE   ir. 


there  be  a  failure,  it  is  then  their  part  and  duty  fo  iiy- 
terpose,  as  far  as  they  have  ability  and  opportunity 
with  any  prospect  of  success.  Nor  is  this  to  be  doac 
only  till  young  persons  take  their  baptismal  vow  up- 
on themselves  at  confirmation,  but  ever  after.  For 
to  that  end,  even  they^  who  are  baptized  in  their 
riper  years,  must  have  godfathers  and  godmothers 
present:  not  to  represent  them  or  to  promise  for  them, 
neither  being  wanted;  but  to  remind  them,  if  there 
be  occasion,  'what  a  solemn  profession  they  have 
made  before  those  their  chosen  witnesses.'" 

This  then  is  the  nature,  and  these  are  the  reasons 
of  that  promise,  whicli  the  sureties  of  children  bap- 
tized, make  in  their  name;  which  promise  therefore 
may  without  question  be  safely  and  usefully  made, 
provided  it  be  afterwards  religiously  kept.  But  they 
who  probably  will  be  wanted  to  perform  their  pro- 
mise, and  yet  will  neglect  it,  should  not  be  invited  to 
enter  into  it,  and  if  they  are,  should  refuse.  Let  eve- 
ry one  concerned  think  seriously,  whether  he  hath 
observed  these  rules,  or  not:  for  evidently  it  is  a  se- 
rious matter,  how  little  soever  it  be  commonly  con- 
sidered as  such. 

2.  The  second  question  is,  on  what  account  we 
are  bound  by  what  was  promised  at  our  baptism,  since 
we  neither  consented  to  that  engagement,  nor  knew 
of  it?  Now  certainly  we  are  not  bound  to  do  what- 
ever any  other  person  shall  take  upon  to  promise  in 
our  name.  But  if  the  thing  promised  be  part  of  an 
agreement  advantageous  to  us,  v/e  arc  plainly  bound 
in  point  of  interest ;  and  indeed  of  conscience  too:  for 
we  ought  to  consult  our  own  haj)piness.  Even  by  the 
laws  of  men,  persons,  unable  to  express  their  consent, 
are  yet  presumed  to  consent  to  what  is  for  their  own 
good:*  and  obligations  are  understood  to  lie  upon 
them  from  such  presumed  consent  ever  after:  espe- 

a  Office  of  Baptism. 

b  The  first  foundation  of  oblisations  quasi  ec  contractu  is,  that  Quisque  bri^- 
3umitur  consentire  in  id,  quod  utililalam  afferti  See  Eden,  El.  .lur.  Qiy..  1..?^, 
Ut,  28.  p.  206. 


LECTURE    IV.  37 

ciallj  if  there  be  a  representative  acting  for  them, 
who  is  empowered  so  to  do."  And  parents  are  em- 
powered bj  nature  to  act  for  their  children:  and  hy 
scripture  to  do  it  in  this  very  case:  and  therefore  may 
employ  others  to  do  it  under  them.  But  further  still: 
the  things  promised  in  baptism  would  have  been  ab- 
solutely incumbent  on  us:  whether  they  have  been 
promised  or  not.  For  it  is  incumbent  on  all  persons 
to  believe  and  to  do  what  God  ommands.  Only  the 
tie  is  made  stronger  by  the  care  then  taken,  that  wc 
shall  be  tauglit  our  duty.  And  when  we  have  ac- 
knowledged ourselves  to  have  learnt  it,  and  have  so- 
lemnly engaged  ourselves  to  perform  it,  as  we  do  when 
we  are  confirmed,  then  the  obligation  is  complete. 

But  perhaps  it  will  be  asked,  how  shall  all  persons, 
especially  the  poor  and  unlearned,  know,  that  what 
they  are  taught  to  believe  is  really  true;  and  what 
th^y  are  taught  to  do,  really  their  duty?  I  answer: 
The  greatest  part  of  it,  when  once  it  is  duly  proposed 
to  them,  they  may  perceive  to  be  so,  by  the  light  of 
their  own  reason  and  conscience:  as  I  doubt  not  to 
shew  you.  Such  points  indeed  as  depend  not  on  rea- 
son, but  on  the  revelation  made  in  scripture,  can- 
not all  of  them  be  proved  in  so  short  a  way,  nor  per- 
haps to  an  equal  degree  of  plainness:  but  to  a  suffi- 
cient degree  they  may;  as  I  hope  to  show  you  also. 
And  in  such  matters,  they,  who  have  but  small  abili- 
ties or  opportunities  for  knowledge,  must,  where  they 
cannot  do  better  for  themselves,  rely  on  those  who 
have  more:  not  blindly  and  absolutely,  but  so  far  as 
is  prudent  and  fit:  just  as,  in  common  business,  and 
the  very  weightiest  of  our  worldly  concerns,  we  all 
trust,  on  many  occasions,  to  one  another's  judgment 
and  integrity:  nor  could  the  affairs  of  human  life  go 
on,  if  we  did  not.  And  though  in  this  method  of 
proceeding  some  will  have  far  less  light  than  others, 
jet  all  will  have  enough  to  direct  their  steps;  and 
they  who  have  the  least,  are  as  much  obliged  to  fol- 
low that  carefully,  as  if  they  had  the  most,  and  wiU 

a  Of  stipulation*  in  another's  name,  sec  Inst.  3.  20,  20. 

D2 


38  LECTURE    IV. 

be  as  surely  led  bv  it  to  a  happy  end.  Hearker? 
therefore  to  instruction  diligently,  and  consider  of  it 
seriously,  and  judge  of  it  uprightly;  and  fear  not  at 
all  after  this,  but  that  when  you  are  asked,  whether 
'you  think  yourself  bound  to  believe  and  to  do  what 
was  promised  in  your  name,'  you  will  be  able,  and  on 
good  grounds,  to  answer  in  the  first  place,  'yes,  verily.' 

But  your  answer  must  not  stop  here.  When  you 
are  thus  persuaded,  your  next  concern  is  immediately 
to  act  according  to  that  persuasion.  Now  as  this  de- 
pends on  two  things;  our  own  resolution,  and  assist- 
ance from  above;  so  both  are  expressed  in  the  follow- 
ing words  of  the  answer,  'and  by  God's  help  so  I  will.' 
Further:  Because  our  own  resolution  is  best  support- 
ed by  our  sense  of  the  advantage  of  keeping  it:  there- 
fore the  person  instructed  goes  on,  in  the  same  an- 
swer, to  acknowledge  that  the  state,  in  which  he  is 
placed  by  baptism,  is  a  state  of  salvation:  and  Le- 
cause  assistance  from  above  is  best  obtained  by  thank- 
fulness for  God's  mercy  hitherto,  and  prayer  for  it 
hereafter,  he  concludes,  by,  'thanking  our  heavenly 
Father,  for  calling  him  to  this  state;  and  prating  for 
his  grace,  that  he  may  continue  in  the  same  to  his 
life's  end.' 

Now  the  necessity  and  nature  of  God's  grace  and 
of  prayer,  and  other  means  to  obtain  it,  will  be  ex- 
plained in  their  proper  places.  The  two  points  there- 
fore, of  which  it  remains  to  speak  at  present,  are,  the 
need  of  good  resolution,  and  of  thankfulness  for  that 
happy  state,  in  which  baptism  hath  placed  us. 

In  every  thing  that  we  attempt,  much  depends  on 
a  deliberate  and  fixed  purpose  of  mind.  But  par- 
ticularly in  religion,  when  once  we  are  thoroughly 
convinced,  that  whatever  it  requires  must  be  done;^ 
and  have  determined  accordingly,  that  though  we 
know  there  will  be  labor  and  difficulty  in  going  on, 
and  many  solicitations  and  enticements  to  leave  off, 
yet  we  will  set  about  the  work,  and  persevere  in  it; 
obstacles  and  discouragements,  that  till  then  appear- 
ed very  threatening,  will,  a  great  part  of  them,  vanish 


LECTURE    IV.  39 

into  nothing;  and  those,  which  remain,  will  serve  on- 
ly to  exercise  our  courage,  and  make  our  triumph 
glorious;  provided  we  keep  our  resolution  alive,  and 
in  vigor,  by  frequently  repeating  it  in  a  proper  man- 
ner: that  is,  in  a  strong  sense  of  God  s  presence,  and 
an  humble  d(;pendcnce  on  his  blessing.  For  if  we 
trust  in  ourselves,  wc  shall  fail.  And  if  we  pretend 
to  trust  in  Cod,  without  exerting  ouisclves,  we  shall 
fail  equally.  In  cither  case,  the  good  impressiong 
made  in  our  minds  will  be  continually  growing  fainter 
of  course:  and  multitudes  of  things  will  conspire  to 
wear  them  quite  out.  Pleasures  will  soften  us  into 
dissoluteness:  or  amusements,  into  neglect  of  every 
serious  attention.  Love  of  riches,  or  power  of  ap- 
plause will  engage  us  in  wrong  methods  of  attaining 
them:  or  the  cares  of  life  v.ill  banish  the  duties  of 
it  from  our  thoughts.  Vehement  passions  will  over- 
set our  vitue:  or  insinuating  temtations  undermine 
it  as  eflectually.  Some  of  these  things  must  happen 
unless  we  preserve  a  steady  and  watchful,  a  modest 
and  religious  resolution  against  them,  ever  fresh  on 
our  minds. 

And  nothing  will  contribute  more  to  our  doing  this 
than  reflecting  often,  with  due  thankfulness,  that  the 
state,  to  which  God  hath  called  us,  is  a  state  of  sal- 
vation: a  state  of  deliverance  from  the  present  slave- 
ry of  sin,  and  the  future  punishment  of  it:  a  state  of 
the  truest  happiness,  that  this  life  can  afford,  intro- 
ducing us  to  perfect  and  everlasting  happiness  in  the 
next.  Such  is  the  condition  in  which,  through  the 
mercy  of  God,  we  christians  are  placed;  and  by 
which,  by  a  christian  behaviour,  we  may  secure  our- 
selves: and  not  only  preserve,  but  continually  en- 
large, our  share  of  its  blessings.  But  if  we  now  neg- 
lect to  do  for  ourselves  what  we  ought;  all,  that  hath 
been  done  for  us  by  others,  will  be  of  no  avail.  Nei- 
ther our  baptism,  nor  our  instruction;  nor  our  learn- 
ing ever  so  exactly,  or  understanding  ever  so  dis- 
tinctly, or  remembering  ever  so  particularly,  what 
we  were  instructed  in  can   possibly  have  any  eirect, 


40  LECTURE   V. 

but  to  increase  our  condemnation,  unless  we  faithful- 
ly continue  in  the  practice  of  every  part  of  it  to  our 
life's  end.  This  therefore  let  us  all  determine  to 
make  our  constant  and  most  earnest  care,  with  hum- 
ble gratitude  to  God,  our  heavenly  Father,  for  his 
undeserved  mercy  tons;  and  with  sure  confidence, 
that  if  we  be  not  wanting  to  ourselves, 'he  that  hath 
begun  a  good  work  in  us,  will  perform  it,  until  the 
day  of  Jesus  Christ." 


LECTURE   V. 

GUOU?JUS    AND    RULE    OF    FAITH. 

Having  already  explained  to  ycu  the  several  things 
v/hich  Christians  by  the  covenant  of  Baptism  re- 
nounce, I  come  now  to  speak  of  what  we  are  to  be- 
lieve: after  which  will  follow  properly  what  we  are 
to  do.  For  all  reasonable  practice  must  be  built  on 
some  belief,  or  persuasion,  which  is  the  ground  of  it: 
virtuous  practice,  on  a  persuasion  that  what  we  do 
is  fit  and  right:  religious  practice,  on  a  persuasion 
that  it  is  the  will  of  God.  Now  God  hath  been 
pleased  to  make  His  will  known  by  two  ways:  part- 
ly by  the  mere  inward  light  of  our  own  understand- 
ings; partly  by  the  outward  means  of  additional  de- 
clarations from  Hims?^f.  The  former  of  these  wc 
call  natural  religion:  the  latter,  revealed  religion. 

The  natural  reason  of  our  own  minds,  if  we  would 
seriously  attend  to  ii,  and  faithfully  assist  each  other 
in  using  it,  is  capable  of  discovering,  as  shall  be 
proved  to  you,  not  only  the  being,  and  attributes, 
and  authority  of  God;  but  in  general,  what  sort  of 
behaviour  He  must  expect  from  such  creatures,  placed 
in  such  a  world,  as  we  are,  in  order  to  avoid  his  dis- 
pleasure, and  procure  some  degree  of  His  favor. 
And  as  wc  cannot  doubt  of  what  our  own  clear  ap- 

a  Phil.  i.  6. 


LECTURE    V.  41 

prehension,  and  the  common  sense  of  mankind,  plain- 
ly tell  us:  here  is  one  (oundation  of  relij^ious  belief 
and  practice  evident  to  all  men.  And  if  our  belief 
and  practice  be  not  suitable  (o  it,  our  consciences, 
whenever  we  consult  them,  nay,  ollen  whether  we 
consult  them  or  not,  will  condemn  us,  (o  our  faces, 
of  sin,  and  proclaim  to  us  beforehand  the  justice  of 
that  future  condemnaticTt!,  which  God  will  pass  upon 
it.  Every  one  of  you  that  liear  me,  have  at  times 
felt  this:  make,  every  one  of  you,  a  proper  use  of  it. 

If,  then,  the  light  of  nature  were  our  only  guide, 
it  would  teach  us  more  than,  I  fear,  man}'  of  us  ob- 
serve. But  happy  are  we,  that  this  is  not  cur  only 
guide.  For  it  would  leave  us  uninformed  in  many 
particulars  of  unspe.akable  moment,  even  were  our 
faculties  unimpaired,  aj)d  employed  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage. But  alas,  the  very  first  of  mankind  fell 
into  sin,  and  derived  a  corrupted  nature  down  to 
their  posterity:  who  yet  further  inflamed  their  own 
passions  and  appetites,  perverted  their  own  judg- 
ments, turned  aside  their  attention  fi'om  the  truth; 
'  the  light  tliat  was  in  them  became,'  in  a  great  meas- 
ure, 'darkness,'"  even  in  respect  of  wh;it  they  were 
to  do.  But  what  they  were  to  hope  and  fear,  after 
doing  wickedly,  this  was  a  matter  of  far  greater  ob- 
scurity still.  And  had  we,  here  at  present,  been  left 
to  ourselves,  in  all  likelihood  we  had  been,  at  this 
hour,  (like  multitudes  of  other  poor  wretches  in  every 
part  of  tlie  world  that  is  unenliglitened  by  Christi- 
anity,) worshiping  stocks  and  stones:  or,  however, 
we  should  certainly,  in  other  respects,  have  been 
'walking  in  the  vanity  of  our  minds,  having  the  un- 
derstanding darkened,  alienated  from  the  life  of 
God;*  strangers  from  the  covenant  of  promise,  hav- 
ing no  hope,  and  without  God  in  the  world.' "= 

But  he  was  graciously  pleased  not  to  leave  fallen 
men  to  themselves,  but  to  furnish  them  with  need- 
ful knowledge.  What  human  abilities,  when  at  the 
best,  might  have  discovered,  they  would  in  all  likeli- 

4  Mattb.  vi,  23.         4  Eph.  iv.  17,  18.         «  Epb.  ii.  li. 


42  LECTtHE    V. 

hood  have  discovered,  (if  at  all,)  so  slowly,  that  we 
have  great  cause  to  believe,  the  religion  of  our  first 
parents  was  derived  from  his  immediate  instruction. 
But  certainly  after  their  transgression,  he  made  an  im- 
mediate revelation  to  them  ;  and  thenceforward 
vouchsafed  from  time  to  time,  various  manifestations, 
to  such  as  would  receive  them,  of  his  truths,  his  com- 
mands, and  his  purposes  :  not  only  republishing  the 
original  doctrines  of  reason,  but  adding  hew  articles 
of  belief,  new  promises,  and  new  precepts,  as  the 
changing  circumstances  of  things  required  ;  till  at 
lengtli,  by  his  Son,  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Cln'ist,  he  con- 
firmed all  his  past  notifications,  and  took  away  all  ne- 
cessity of  future  ones  ;  acquainting  us  fully,  in  the 
ever  blessed  Gospel,  with  all  that  we  shall  need  to 
know,  or  be  bound  to  do,  '  till  Heaven  and  Earth 
pass.' " 

Thus,  then,  besides  those  things  in  religion,  which 
our  own  reason  can  discern,  we  receive  others  on  the 
testimony  of  their  being  revealed  by  God  :  as  un- 
questionably we  ought.  For  if  he,  who  cannot  err, 
and  cannot  lie,  communicates  any  information  to  us  ; 
though  it  requires  us  to  believe,  what  we  had  before 
not  the  least  apprehension  of,  or  should  else  have  im- 
agined to  be  exceedingly  strange  and  unlikely  ;  tho' 
it  requires  us  to  do,  what  otherwise  we  should  neither 
have  thought  of  doing,  nor  have  chosen  to  do;  yet 
surely  His  testimony  and  command  may  well  be  suf- 
ficient reason  for  both.  We  admit  every  day,  upon  the 
testimony  one  of  another,  things  utterly  unknown  to 
us,  and  in  themselves  extremely  improbable:  and  we 
act  upon  such  testimony  in  matters,  on  wliich  our  for- 
tunes, our  healths,  our  lives  depend:  as  indeed  with- 
out doing  so,  the  alfairs  of  the  world  could  not  be  car- 
ried on.  Now,  'if  we  receive  the  witness,  of  men, 
the  witness  of  God  is  greater.'  *  And  since  we  are 
able  to  convey  the  knowledge  of  our  thoughts  and 
our  wills  to  each  other,  no  question  but  God  is  able  to 
eonvey  his  to  his  creatures. 

a  Matth.  v.  18.  *  1  John  v.  9. 


LECTURE    V.  43 

But,  allowing  that  he  can,  it  may  be  asked,  how  do 
we  prove,  that  he  hath  conveyed  it  to  men  in  the 
Jewisii  and  Christian  revelations?  I  answer,  we  be- 
lieve the  Jewish  revelation,  for  this  plain  reason, 
amongst  others,  because  the  christian  confirms  it:  and 
we  believe  the  ciiristian,  chicfiy  upon  the  full  proof, 
which  Christ  and  his  Apostles  have  given  of  it.  They 
who  saw  him,  with  their  own  eyes,  perform  things 
which  man  could  not  do;  and  heard  him,  with  their 
own  ears,  foretell  things  which  man  could  not  fore- 
know, and  yet  experienced  them  to  come  to  pass:  as 
for  instance,  his  healing  great  numbers  of  sick  per- 
sons with  a  word,  and  raising  himself  from  the  dead: 
they  must  be  sure,  that  some  power  attended  him 
more  than  human.  And  since  his  doctrines  all  pro- 
moted the  spiritual  worship  and  honour  of  the  one 
true  God,  and  virtue  and  happiness  among  men;  they 
must  be  sure,  also,  that  tliis  power  was  not  that  of  an 
evil  spirit,  but  of  a  good  one;  and  consequently,  that 
he  came  from  God,  and  taught  his  will.  If,  then,  it 
be  true,  that  he  did,  in  their  presence,  not  only  deliv- 
er such  doctrine,  but  fortell  and  perform  such  things; 
then  their  faith  was  reasonable,  and  ours  is  so  too. 
Now  they  do  in  the  strongest  manner  affirm  this;  as 
you  may  read  throughout  the  Gospels  and  Acts:  and 
why  are  they  not  to  be  credited?  They  could  not  ev- 
ery one  of  them  be  mistaken  in  all;  and  think  they 
saw  and  heard,  day  after  day,  and  year  after  year, 
things  which  they  did  not,  any  more  than  we  can  be 
mistaken  in  every  thing  that  we  see  and  hear  contin- 
ually. Besides  they  affirm,  that  they  were  enabled 
to  do  the  same  wonders  themselves,  and  enabled  oth- 
ers to  do  them.     All  this  could  not  be  mistake,  too. 

And  as  they  could  not  be  deceived  in  these  points, 
so  neither  could  they  intend  to  deceive  mankind. — 
There  is  all  the  appearance  in  the  world  of  their  be- 
ing fair  and  honest  persons,  that  would  not  deceive 
for  interest.  But  besides,  what  they  affirmed,  was  ab- 
solutely against  their  interest.  It  exposed  them,  as 
they  could  but  imagine  it  would,  to  reproach,  impris- 


44  LECTUnE  V. 

onment,  stripes,  and  death  itself.  Yet  all  these  things 
they  underwent,  patiently,  one  after  another,  through 
a  course  of  m;iny  years,  for  the  sake  of  what  they 
taught;  none  of  them  all  confessing,  or  being  convict- 
ed of  any  falsehood:  which  yet  they  must  have  been, 
had  they  beon  guilty  of  any:  for  the  things,  which 
they  affirmed,  were  many,  indeed  most  of. them,  done 
publicly:  and  all  the  power,  and  all  the  learning  of 
the  world,  were  employed  against  them  from  the  first, 
to  detect  them,  if  possible.  Yet  nobody  pretends,  or 
ever  did  pretend,  that  they  were  dctectecl.  Besides, 
if  any  sucli  discovery  had  been  made,  their  whole 
scheme  must  have  been  ruined,  immediately,  where- 
as, instead  of  tliat,  they  spread  their  religion,  (though 
it  was  conlrar}'  to  the  established  superstitions,  the 
deep-rooted  prejudices,  and  favorite  vices,  of  all  man- 
kind,) through  the  whole  earth,  within  a  few  years, 
by  mere  force  of  miracles,  and  arguments,  and  inno- 
cence, against  all  opposition.  These  things  surely 
are  proofs  sufficient  of  our  Saviour's  coming  from 
God,  without  saying  any  thing  of  the  prophecies  of 
the  Old  Testament;  so  many  of  which  were  so  clear- 
ly fulfilled  in  him. 

But  then,  as  all  the  facts  hitherto  mentioned  are 
ancient  ones;  it  may  be  asked  farther,  how  can  we 
now  be  sure  of  the  truth  of  w4iat  is  said  to  have  been 
done  so  many  ages  ago?  I  answer,  by  all  the  same 
means,  which  can  assure  us  of  any  other  ancient  fact. 
And  there  are  multitudes  of  much  ancienter,  which 
nobody  had  the  least  doubt  of;  and  it  would  be  reck- 
oned madness,  if  they  had.  The  miracles  of  Christ 
and  his  Apostles,  are  recorded  in  the  New  Testament: 
a  book  very  fjlly  proved,  and  indeed,  acknowledged 
to  be,  the  greatest  part  of  it,  written  by  the  Apostles 
themselves;  and  the  rest,  in  their  days,  by  their  di- 
rection: and  no  one  material  fact  of  it  is,  or  ever 
was,  so  far  as  we  can  learn,  opposed  by  any  contrary 
evidence,  whatsoever.  Then,  that  vast  numbers  of 
persons  were  converted  to  this  religion,  as  they  de- 
clared, by  seeing  these  miracles,  and  vast  numbers 


LECTURE    V.  45 

more,  by  the  accounts  which  they  received  of  them; 
and  persevered  in  their  faith,  against  all  worldly  dis- 
couragements, till  at  length  it  became  the  prevailing 
one;  appears  partly  from  the  New  Testament,  also 
partly  from  other  books  of  acknowledged  authority, 
written  in  that  age,  and  the  following  ones,  by  Heath- 
ens and  Jews,  as  well  as  Christians;  and  indeed  is 
in  the  main  universally  owned  and  notorious. 

But  supposing  the  facts,  on  which  our  religion  is 
built,  to  be  truly  related,  yet  it  may  be  asked  further, 
how  shall  wc  be  sure  that  its  doctrines  were  so  too, 
in  which  it  is  much  easier  to  mistake?  I  answer 
again:  the  doctrines  of  the  Old  Testament  are  attest- 
ed and  confirmed  by  the  New.  And  for  those  of  the 
New  Testament;  we  have  our  Saviour's  own  discour- 
ses, recorded  by  two  of  his  Apostles,  JMatthew 
and  John,  who  heard  him  constantly,  and  by  two 
other  persons,  Mark  and  Luke,  who  at  least  received 
them  from  his  constant  hearers.  We  have,  also,  the 
discourses  of  his  first  disciples, after  his  resurrection, 
recorded  in  the  Acts:  we  have,  besides,  many  letters 
written  by  them,  the  epistles,  sent  on  several  occa- 
sions, for  the  instruction  of  several  new-planted 
churches.  Now  all  these  agree  in  the  same  doctrine. 
But  further,  which  adds  inestimable  value  to  what 
they  have  said  and  written,  our  Lord  himself  promis- 
ed them,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  should  •  teach  them 
all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  their  remembrance, 
whatever  he  had  said  unto  them;'  "^  '  should  come  and 
abide  with  them  for  ever,  and  guide  them  into  all 
truth.'*  And  accordingly,  this  spirit  did  come,  and 
manifest  his  continual  presence  with  them,  by  his  mi- 
raculous gifts.  We  have,  therefore,  the  fullest  evi- 
dence, that  both  what  tiiey  have  delivered,  as  from 
our  Saviour,  and  what  they  have  said  in  their  own 
name,  is  a  true  representation  of  his  religion. 

But  another  question  is,  supposing  the  Scripture  a 
true  revelation,  so  far  as  it  goes;  how  shall  we  know, 

o  Jonh  xiv.  5i6.  6  John  xiv.  16.  xvi.  13. 

E 


46  LECTURE    V. 

if  it  be  a  full  and  complete  one  too,  in  all  things  ne- 
cessary? I  answer:  since  our  Saviour  had  the  Spirit 
without  measure,  and  the  writers  of  Scripture  had  as 
large  a  measure  of  it,  as  their  commission  to  instruct 
the  world  required,  it  is  impossible,  that  in  so  many 
discourses  concerning  the  terms  of  salvation,  as  the 
New  Testament  contains,  they  should  all  have  omit- 
ted any  one  thing  necessary  to  the  great  end  which 
they  had  in  view.  And  what  was  not  necessary  when 
the  Scripture  was  completed,  cannot  have  become  so 
since.  For  the  faith  was  once  for  all  delivered  in 
it  to  the  Saints:  "  and  '  other  foundation  can  no  man 
la}','  *  than  what  was  laid  then.  The  sacred  penmen 
themselves,  could  teach  no  other  gospel  than  Christ 
appointed  them:  and  he  hath  appointed  no  one  since 
to  make  additions  to  it. 

In  the  books  of  Scripture,  then,  the  doctrines  of 
our  religion  are  truly  and  fully  conveyed  to  us;  and 
we  cannot  be  so  sure  of  any  other  conveyance.  It  is 
a  confirmation  of  our  faith,  indeed,  tbat  the  earliest 
Christian  writers,  after  those  of  Scripture,  in  all  ma- 
terial points  agree  with  it.  But  if  they  did  not,  no 
writers  can  have  equal  authority  with  inspired  ones. 
And  no  unwritten  tradition  can  long  be  of  any  au- 
thority at  all.  For  things  delivered  by  word  of 
mouth,  alv/ays  vary  more  or  less,  in  going  through 
but  a  few  hands.  And  the  world  hath  experienced, 
that  articles  of  belief,  for  want  of  having  recourse 
to  the  written  rule  of  them,  have  greatly  changed  in 
many  churches  of  christians:  but  in  few  or  none  more, 
than  that  of  Rome,  which  absurdly  pretends  to  be 
unchangeable  and  infallible.  It  is  in  the  Scripture 
alone,  then,  that  we,  who  live  in  these  later  ages,  can 
be  sure  of  finding  the  christian  faith  preserved  com- 
plete and  undefiled:  and  there  we  may  be  sure  of  it. 

For  as  to  any  pretence  or  fear  of  these  books  being 
corrupted  and  altered,  either  by  design  or  mistake: 
had  the  Old  Testament  been  depraved  in  any  thing 

«Jude3.  JlCor.lii.il. 


LECTURE   V. 


47 


essential,  our  Saviour  and  his  Apostles  would  havo 
given  us  notice  of  it.  And  for  the  New,  the  several 
parts  of  it  were  so  immediately  spread  tiirough  tlie 
world,  and  so  constantly  read,  in  puljlic  and  private, 
by  all  christians;  and  so  perpetually  quoted  in  all 
their  discourses,  and  all  the  disputes  of  one  sect  with 
another,  that  they  could  not  possibly  be  changed,  by 
any  of  them,  in  any  thing  considerable.  For  the  rest 
would  have  immediately  discovered  it,  and  charged 
them  with  it,  which  must  put  an  end  to  the  danger. 
And  indeed  it  is  an  agreed  point,  amongst  all  who  un- 
derstand these  matters,  thatnothingof  this  kind,  either 
hath  happened  or  can  happen,  so  as  to  elfect  any  one 
article  of  faith. 

But  perhaps  it  will  be  alleged,  that  the  Bible  was 
written  originally  in  languages,  whichhave  long  been 
out  of  common  use,  and  with  which  but  a  small  part 
of  christians  now  are  acquainted:  and  how  shall  the 
rest  be  sure,  that  we  have  tliem  rightly  translated  in- 
to our  own?  The  plain  answer  is, that  all  translations, 
made  by  all  parties,  agree  in  most  places,  and  those 
of  the  most  importance:  and  where  they  disagree, 
moderate  consideration,  and  inquiry  will  enable  any 
persons  who  live  in  a  country  of  knowledge  and  free- 
dom, which,  God  be  thanked,  is  our  ease,  to  judge  on 
some  good  grounds,  as  far  as  they  need  judge,  which 
is  right,  and  which  is  wrong;  which  is  clear,  and 
which  is  doubtful.  Nor  doth  any  sect  of  christians 
pretend  to  accuse  our  common  translation  of  conceal- 
ing any  necessary  truth,  or  asserting  any  destructive 
error. 

But  supposing  all  this,  yet  it  may  be  urged,  that 
many  parts  of  Scripture  in  our  translation,  and  in  the 
original,  too,  are  dark  and  obscure:  and  how  can  it 
then  be  the  guide  and  rule  of  our  faith?  I  answer: 
these  are  few  in  proportion  to  such  as  are  clear:  and 
were  they  more,  the  Spirit  of  God,  we  maj^  be  sure, 
would  make  all  necessary  points,  in  one  part  or  ano- 
ther, sufHciently  clear.  These,  therefore,  the  most 
ignorant  may  learn  from  Scripture;  at  least  by  the 


48  LECTURE   T, 

help  of  such  explanations,  as  they  are  willing  to  ask 
and  trust  in  all  other  cases,  and  much  admirable  in- 
struction besides;  which,  if  they  do  but  respect  and 
observe  as  they  ought,  they  may  be  content  to  leave 
for  the  use  of  others,  what  a  little  modesty  will  shew 
them  is  above  their  own  reach. 

But  that  every  person  may  be  enabled  the  better  to 
distinguish  between  the  necessary  doctrines  and  the 
rest:  those,  which  either  Christ  or  liis  Apostles,  ex- 
pressly taught  to  be  of  the  former  sort,  or  the  nature 
of  the  thing  plainly  shews  to  be  such,  have  from  the 
earliest  times  been  collected  together:  and  the  pro- 
fession of  them  had  been  particularly  required  of  all 
persons  baptized.  These  collections,  or  summaries, 
are  in  Scripture  called  '  tlie  form  of  sound  words,'  '^ 
'the  words  of  faith,'  *  '  the  principles  of  the  doctrine 
of  Christ:'*^  but  in  the  present  language  of  Chris- 
tians, the  creed,  that  is,  the  belief. 

The  ancient  Church  had  many  such  creeds:  some 
longer,  some  shorter;  ditTering  in  expression,  but 
agreeing  in  method  and  sense:  of  which  that  called 
the  Apostles'  creed,  was  one.  And  it  deserves  that 
name,  not  so  much  from  any  certainty  that  the  Apos- 
tles drew  it  up,  as  because  it  contains  the  Apostolical 
doctrines;  and  was  used  by  a  cl^urch,  which,  before 
it  corrupted  itself,  was  justly  considered  as  one  of  the 
chief  Apostolical  foundations,  I  mean  the  Roman. 

But  neither  this,  nor  any  other  creed  hath  author- 
ity of  its  own,  equal  to  Scripture;  but  derives  its  prin- 
cipal authority  from  being  iounded  on  Scripture.  Nor 
is  it  in  the  power  of  any  man,  or  number  of  men, 
either  to  lessen  or  increase  ihe  fundamental  articles 
of  the  Christian  faith:  which  yet  the  church  of  Rome, 
not  content  with  this  in  its  primitive  creed,  hath  pro- 
fanely attempted:  adding  twelve  articles  more,  found- 
ed on  its  own,  that  is,  on  no  authority,  to  the  ancient 
twelve,  which  stand  on  the  authority  of  God's  Word. 
But  our  church  hath  wisely  refused  to  go  a  step  beyond 

a  2  Tim.  i.  13.  b  1  Tim.  iv.  6.  c  Ileb.  vi.lv 


LECTURE    V.  49 

the  original  form;  sinceall  necessary  truths  are  briefly 
comprehended  in  it,  as  will  appear,  when  the  several 
parts  of  it  come  to  be  expounded,  which  it  is  the  du- 
ty of  every  one  of  us  lirmly  to  believe,  and  openly  to 
profess.  '  For  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto 
righteousness,  and  with  the  mouth  confession  is  made 
unto  salvation.'  " 


LECTURE   VI. 

CREED. 

Article  1.     I  believe  in  God  the  Father,  S^c. 

The  foundation  of  all  religion  is  faith  in  God:  the 
persuasion,  that  there  doth,  ever  did,  and  ever  will 
exist,  one  Being  of  unbounded  power  and  knowledge, 
perfect  Justice,  Truth  and  Goodness,  tlie  Creator 
and  Preserver,  the  Sovereign  Lord  and  Ruler  of  all 
things.  With  this  article,  therefore,  our  Creed  be- 
gins. And  as  all  the  rest  are  built  upon  it,  so  the 
truth  and  certainty  of  it  is  plain  to  every  man,  when 
duly  proposed  to  his  consideration,  how  unlikely  so- 
ever some  men  would  have  been  to  discover  it  of 
themselves. 

We  know  beyond  possibility  of  doubt,  that  we  now 
are:  and  yet  the  oldest  of  us,  but  a  iesv  years  ago, 
was  not.  How  then  came  we  to  be?  Whence  had 
we  our  beginning?  From  our  parents,  perhaps  we 
may  think.  But  did  our  parents  know,  or  do  we 
know  in  the  least,  how  to  form  such  a  mind  as  that 
of  man,  with  all  its  faculties;  or  such  a  body  as  that 
of  man,  with  all  its  parts  and  members;  or  even  the 
very  smallest  of  them?  No  more  than  a  tree  knows 
how  to  make  the  seed  that  grows  into  a  like  tree;  no 
more  than  any  comm.on  instrument  knows  how  to  do 
the  work  which  is  done  by  its  means.     Our  parents 

a  Rom.  X.  10. 

E2 


50  LECTURE   VI. 

were  only  instruments  in  the  hands  of  some  higher 
power:  and,  to  speak  properly,  That  it  iszvhichinade 
us,  and  not  zve  ourselves,'^  or  one  another.  And  the 
same  is  the  case  of  every  animal  and  every  plant 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth. 

But  could  our  parents  be  the  cause  of  our  being, 
yet  still,  the  first  human  pair  must  have  had  some 
diflferent  cause  of  theirs.  Will  it  then  be  said,  that 
there  was  no  first?  But  we  cannot  conceive  this  t& 
be  possible.  And  it  certainly  is  not  true.  For  we 
have  undoubted  accounts,  in  ancient  histories,  of  the 
time  when  men  were  but  few  in  the  world,  and  in- 
habited but  a  small  part  of  it;  and,  therefore,  were 
near  their  beginning:  accounts  of  the  times  when 
almost  all  arts  and  sciences  were  invented,  which 
mankind  would  not  have  been  long  in  being,  much 
less  from  eternity,  without  finding  out.  And  upon 
the  whole,  there  is  strong  evidence,  that  the  present 
frame  of  things  is  not  more  than  about  six  thousand 
years  old;  and  that  none  of  us  here  present  is  150 
generations  distant  from  our  first  parents. 

If  it  be  said,  that  universal  deluges  may  perhaps  have 
destroyed  almost  all  the  race  of  men,  and  so  made  that 
seem  a  new  beginning,  which  was  not,  we  answer, 
that  one  such  deluge  we  own:  but  that  no  such  can 
possibly  happen  according  to  the  common  course  of 
nature,  as  learned  persons  have  abundantly  shown. 
And,  consequently,  this  proves  a  higher  Power,  in- 
stead of  destroying  tlie  proof  of  it. 

But  without  having  recourse  to  history,  it  is  evi- 
dent, from  the  very  form  and  appearance  of  this 
earth,  that  it  cannot  have  been  from  eternity.  If  it 
had,  to  mention  nothing  else,  the  hills  must  all  have 
been  w^ashed  down  by  showers,  innumerable  ages 
ago,  to  a  level  with  the  plains.*     And,  indeed,  they 

o  Psal.  c.  2. 

*  This  argument  is  proved  from  TheopUrastus,  in  Pliilo,  p.  510;  and  twtt 
answers  to  it  attempted,  p.  513;  tliat  mountains  may  lose  part?,  and  gain  them 
again,  as  trees  do  their  leaves;  or  are  supported  by  the  internal  fire,  which 
threw  them  up.  The  first  is  an  absurd  assertion:  the  latter  a  groundless  and 
falie  one. 


LECTURE    VI.  51 

who  have  thought  of  these  matters,  well  know  and 
.confess,  that  the  present  conslitulion  of  the  heavens 
and  earth  both  must  have  liad  a  beginning,  and  must 
of  itself  come  to  an  end. 

To  say,  therefore,  that  things  are  by  nature  what 
they  are,  is  to  say  a  plain  falscliood,  if  we  mean,  that 
they  are  so  by  any  necessity  in  their  own  nature. 
For  then  they  must  always  have  been  such  as  we  sec 
them;  and  not  the  least  part  of  any  thing  could  pos- 
sibly have  been  at  all  dillerent  from  what  it  is:  which 
is  the  wildest  imagination  in  the  world.  The  only 
nature  therefore,  which  we  and  the  whole  Universe 
have,  was  freely  given  us  by  a  Superior  Being.  And 
tlic  regularity  in  which  things  go  on,  is  no  more  a 
proof  tliat  they  were  of  themselves  from  everlasting, 
or  shall  continue  as  they  are  to  everlasting,  than  the 
regular  motion  of  a  clock  is  a  proof  that  no  artist 
made  it,  or  keeps  it  in  order,  or  shall  take  it  to  pieces. 
On  the  contrary,  the  more  complete  this  regularity 
is,  and  the  longer  it  lasts,  the  more  fully  it  shows  the 
power  of  its  author;  and  not  only  that,  but  his  un- 
derstanding and  wisdom  also. 

Indeed,  what  hath  no  understanding,  hath,  in  strict- 
ness of  speech,  no  power;  cannot  act,  but  only  be 
acted  upon:  as  all  mere  matter  is;  which  never 
moves,  but  as  it  is  moved.  But  were  this  doubtful: 
look  around  you,  and  see  Avhat  marks  of  understand- 
ing and  wisdom  appear.  Turn  your  eyes  upon  your- 
selves: how  fcarfidhi  and  XL-ondcrfuUy  are  we  made!'^ 
Of  what  an  incrcdilale  number  and  variety  of  parts 
(a  vastly  greater,  perhaps,  than  any  of  us  suspect,) 
are  our  bodies  composed!  How  were  these  formed 
and  put  together  at  lirst?  What  hath  caused,  and 
what  hath  limited  their  growth  since?  How  hath 
proper  and  suitable  nourishment  been  distributed  to 
them  all?  How  hath  the  perpetual  motion  of  our 
blood,  and  of  our  breath,  sleeping  and  waking,  both 
of  them  so  necessary  to  life,  been  carried  on?  How 
is  it,  that  we  move  every  Joint  belonging  to  us,  in- 

«  Peal,  cxxxix.  14. 


52  LECTURE    VI. 

stantlj,  and  with  such  exactness,  without  knowing 
even  which  way  we  go  about  it?  Our  speech,  our 
hearing,  our  sight,  every  one  of  our  senses,  what 
amazing  contrivance  is  there  in  them!  and  the  more 
amazing,  the  more  strictly  we  examine  them!  In 
the  works  of  men,  it  is  often  mere  ignorance  that  oc- 
casions our  admiration:  but  in  these,  the  minuter  our 
inspection  and  the  deeper  our  search  is,  the  greater 
abundance  we  always  find  of  accurate  adjustment 
and  unimaginable  precautions. 

But  then,  besides  ourselves,  the  earth  is  replenish- 
ed with  numberless  other  animals.  Those,  of  which 
we  commonly  lake  notice,  are  an  extremely  small  part 
of  the  whole.  Diiferent  countries  produce  very  differ- 
ent sorts.  How  many,  still  more  different,  the  great 
waters  conceal  from  us,  we  cannot  even  guess.  Mul- 
titudes remain,  so  little,  as  almost  to  escape  our  sight, 
with  the  best  assistance  that  we  are  able  to  give  it; 
and,  probabl}",  multitudes  more,  which  escape  it  en- 
tirely. But  all  that  we  can  observe,  we  find,  down 
to  the  very  least,  contrived  with  the  same  incon- 
ceivable art,  strangely  diversified,  yet  uniform  at  the 
same  time,  and  perfectly  fitted  by  most  surprising 
instincts  for  their  several  ways  of  living,  so  entirely 
different  each  from  the  other. 

What  wisdom  and  power  must  it  be,  then,  which 
hath  peopled  the  world  in  this  manner,  and  made 
such  provision  for  the  support  of  all  its  inhabitants: 
chiefly  by  the  means  of  innumerable  kinds  of  herbs 
and  vegetables,  just  as  wonderful  in  their  make,  as 
the  animals  themselves:  that  hath  intermixed  the  dry 
land  so  fitly  with  springs,  and  rivers,  and  lakes,  and 
the  ocean,  to  supply  every  thing  with  necessary 
moisture,  and  make  the  communication  of  the  most 
distant  parts  easy;  that  hath  surrounded  the  earth 
with  air  for  us  to  breathe  in,  to  convey  our  voices  to 
each  other,  and  to  support  clouds  for  rain:  that  hath 
caused  this  air  to  be  moved  by  winds,  which  preserve 
it  heahhful;  and  bring  those  who  go  down  to  the  sea  in 
shipSf  unto  the  haven  where  they  would  be:'^  that  hath 

a  Psal.  cvu.  23,  30. 


LECTURE  vr.  53 

placed  the  sun  at  so  exact  a  distance  from  us,  that 
\vc  are  neither  burnt  up  by  heat,  nor  frozen  by  cold; 
and  hath  kept  i)odies  of  such  incredible  bulk,  as  the 
heavenly  ones,  rolling  on  for  thousands  of  years  to- 
gether, with  so  orderly  and  exact  a  motion,  that  the 
returns  of  day  and  night,  and  of  the  various  annual 
seasons,  are  precisely  foreknown;  and  perfectly 
suitable  for  labor  and  rest,  and  bringing  the  fruits  of 
the  earth  to  maturity:  whereas,  were  almost  any 
one  of  these  things  considerably  altered,  we  must 
all  of  necessity  perish. 

But  then,  how  small  a  part  of  the  Universe  our 
habitation  may  be;  and  how  many,  pcrh;ips  greater, 
wonders  the  rest  may  contain,  we  cannot  so  much  as 
conjecture.  The  millions  of  miles  that  arc  between 
us  and  the  nearest  of  the  celestial  globes,  would  be 
astonishing,  if  mentioned  to  you.  Yet  their  distance 
is  as  nothing,  if  compared  with  the  farthest,  which 
we  see;  and,  very  possibly,  the  farthest  which  we  see, 
may  be  as  nothing  to  many  others:  every  one  of 
which,  we  have  no  reason  to  doubt,  is  as  full  of  re- 
gularity, and  beauty,  and  use,  as  our  own  abode. 
And  from  what  origin  can  the  whole  of  this  proceed, 
but  that  which  the  Psalmist  rapturously  expresses: 
'O  Lord,  how  manifold  are  thy  works!  in  wisdom 
hast  thou  made  them  all!"' 

To  speak  of  chance,  as  the  cause  of  them,  is  ab- 
surd beyond  measure.  Chance  is  merely  a  word,  to 
express  our  own  ignorance:  it  is  nothing,  and  can 
do  nothing.  Suppose  one  of  us  were  asked,  how. 
this  building,  in  which  we  are  assembled,  or  the 
smallest  part  of  the  dress  which  we  wear,  came  to 
be  what  it  is;  and  should  answer,  that  no  person 
made  it,  but  it  jumped  together  and  held  together 
by  chance;  would  not  this  be  gross  folly?  And  how 
shockingly  foolish  must  it  be,  then,  to  give  the  same 
account  of  the  existence  of  a  whole  world,  so  admi- 
rably contrived,  adjusted  and  conducted  throughout! 
As  evidently,  therefore,  as    any  common   piece  of 

b  Psa'.civ,-24. 


54 


LECTURE    VI. 


work  proves  a  workman  to  have  composed  it,  so  evi-' 
denllj,  and  very  much  more,  the  immense  fabric  of 
the  Universe  proves  a  Being  of  unspeakable  power 
and  skill  to  be  the  Creator  of  it. 

And  accordingly,  the  belief  of  a  wise  and  mighty 
author  of  all  hatli  been  received  in  every  age  and  na- 
tion: which  clearly  shews  it  to  be  founded  in  truth, 
and  written  in  the  hearts  of  men.  They  corrupted  it 
graduaiiy  indeed:  first,  by  unworthy  representations 
of  the  true  God,  then  by  adding  the  worship  of  false 
Gods,  which  at  length  excluded  him.  But  undenia- 
bly the  primitive  notion  was  that  of  invisible  mind, 
the  maker  and  ruler  of  this  visible  frame:  which  be- 
ing plainly  under  the  uniform  direction,  shews  itself 
to  have  one  only  sovereign  director  and  governor. 
Tills  doctiinc  God  himself  must  have  taught  our  first 
parents  in  the  beginning:  he  hath  confirmed  it  since 
by  miracles  from  time  to  time:  and  perpetuated  the 
evidence  of  it  in  his  holy  word. 

That  he  is  not  perceived  by  any  of  our  senses,  is 
no  objection  at  all  against  his  being.  For  our  minds 
also  are  imperceptibly  by  sense.  But  as  they  not- 
withstanding, shew  their  existence  by  moving  and 
disposing  of  our  bodies  according  to  their  pleasure; 
so  doth  God  shew  his,  by  moving  and  disposing  of  all 
things  as  he  wills.  And  the  same  argument  proves 
his  presence  with  all  things.  For  wherever  he  acts, 
there  he  certainly  is:  and  therefore  he  is  every 
where.  Our  presence  is  limited,  and  extends  a  very 
.little  way;  but  what  is  there  to  limit  him?  Our  being 
is  derived  from  his  command;  and  therefore  depends 
oa  it  still;  but  he  is  underived:  and  therefore  inde- 
pendent absolutely.  Our  Powers  are  only  what  he 
hath  thought  tit  to  give  us:  but  his  power  is  infinite: 
for  every  tbing  depending  on  him,  nothing  can  resist 
him.  Our  knowledge  is  every  way  imperfect:  hut 
he  who  made  all  things,  and  is  present  with  all  things, 
must  in  the  completest  manner  know  all  things,  even 
the  most  hidden  thoughts  of  the  heart.  We  are  of- 
ten unjust  and  wicked:  but  God  cannot  be  other- 


LECTURE    VI.  55 

wise  than  just  and  holy.  For  the  only  reasons  of 
our  failing  to  do  right  arc,  that  we  either  perceive 
not  what  is  so,  or  else  are  tempted  to  act  contrary  to 
our  perceptions:  but  God  is  subject  to  no  mistake, 
or  weakness  of  any  kind.  And,  which  is  the  happiest 
attribute  of  all  for  his  creation,  he  must  be  likewise 
good.  For  goodness  is  plainly  a  right  thing;  and 
therefore  he  must  see  it  to  be  so:  it  is  plainly  a 
perfection;  and  therefore  the  perfectest  being  must 
possess  it  in  the  highest  degree.  We  should  be  al- 
ways good  ourselves,  if  nothing  misled  us:  and 
him  nothing  can  mislead.  But  the  most  valuable 
proof  is,  that  we  experience  his  goodness;  for  we 
live  in  a  world  full  of  it.  All  that  we  enjoy,  and 
every  capacity  of  enjoyment  that  we  have,  proceeds 
Irom  him.  Most  of  what  we  sulTcr  proceeds  from  our 
own  faults  and  follies.  And  so  much  of  it  as  comes 
wholly  from  his  providence,  is  designed  for  our  pre- 
sent improvement  and  future  reward:  unless  by 
obstinate  misbehaviour  we  become  unfit  for  re- 
ward: and  then  we  have  only  ourselves  to  blame. 
For  as  God  is  knowing  and  wise;  he  cannot  but  ob- 
serve the  ditferencc  between  good  persons  and  bad: 
as  he  is  just  and  holy;  he  cannot  take  pleasure  in 
those  who  are  otherwise:  and  as  he  is  the  governor 
of  the  world;  he  cannot  fail  to  shew  his  displeasure 
in  that  effectual  manner,  which  the  ends  of  govern- 
ment require.  And  they  certainly  do  require  the 
bad  to  be  punished,  as  well  as  the  good  to  be  made 
happy. 

Such  then  is  the  nature  of  God:  to  whom  in  the 
creed  the  name  of  father  is  given,  as  he  is  both  the 
father  of  the  creation  by  forming  it,  and  also  the  fa- 
ther of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  through  him  our 
gracious  and  reconciled  father,  as  shall  hereafter  be 
explained.  The  next  word,  'Almighty,'  denotes  not 
barely  his  irresistible  power,  but  principally  that 
rightful  and  absolute  authority,  with  which  '  his  king- 
dom ruleth  over  all.'"    And  the  last  words  of  the  des- 

a  Psalm  •ill.  19- 


56  LECTURE   VI. 

cription,  'maker  of  heaven  and  earth,'  are  added: 
partly  to  express  the  ground  of  that  authority,  his 
being  the  Creator,  and  therefore  the  proprietor  of 
the  world;  and  partly  in  opposition  to  the  errors  of 
the  heathens,  who  worshiped  many  beings  in  the 
heavens  and  the  earth,  as  Gods,  which,  in  these  terms 
of  our  creed,  are  by  evident  consequence  declared  to 
be  no  Gods,  because  they  are  the  work  of  his  hands 
'of  whom,  and  through  whom,  and  to  whom  are  all 
things.''* 

The  duties,  owing  to  this  our  awful  Sovereign,  will 
be  specified  in  expounding  the  ten  commandments, 
particularly  the  first.     At  present  therefore  I  shall 
only  beg  you  to  remember  the  Apostle's  exhortation: 
'Take  heed,  brethren,  lest  there  be  in  any  of  you  an 
evil  heart  of  unbelief,  in   departing  from  the  living 
God.'*    Nothing,  but  an  evil  heart,  can  make  unbelief 
desirable,   or  even  supportable.     For  to  every  good 
heart  it  must  be  the  greatest  joy,  to  know   that  the 
world  is  governed   by  infinite  wisdom,  justice,  and 
goodness;  and   the    greatest  affliction,    to    have  any 
doubt  of  it.     If  therefore  you  find  the  thought  of  such 
a  governor  unwelcome;  if  you   could  inwardly  wish 
there    were   none;    be   assured,   'your  heart  is   not 
right. '*=     And  though  you  could  with  such  a  disposi- 
tion, bring  yourself,  almost  or  completely,  to  imagine 
there   is   none:  what  possible  security   can  shutting 
your  eyes  give  you  against  danger;  or  what  excuse 
can  wilfully  denying  God  make   for  disobeying  him? 

But,  then,  observe  further,  that  supposing  you  do 
not  disbelieve  a  God  at  all,  yet  if  you  never  think  of 
him,  this  is  not,  to  any  good  purpose,  believing  in  him 
at  all:  and  if  you  think  of  him  but  seldom,  it  is  be- 
lieving in  him  but  little.  He  on  whom  we  depend 
continually,  to  whom  we  owe  duty  continually,  in 
whose  presence  we  continually  are,  ought  never  to 
be  far  from  our  thoughts;  but  we  should  set  him  be- 
fore our  eyes  so  constantly,  as  to  live  in  his  fear  al- 

a  Rom.  si.  36.        b  Heb.  iii.  12.        c  Acts  viii,  21. 


LECTURE  VI,  57 

ways.  Doing  this,  needs  not  keep  us  from  common 
business;  it  needs  not  keep  us  from  innocent  pleas- 
ures. But  it  should  influence  us  all,  effectually,  (and 
happy  are  we  if  it  doth.)  to  conduct  ourselves  in  eve- 
ry thing,  as  persons  who  act  under  the  inspection  of  a 
wise  and  just  superior:  whom  we  may  indeed  forget, 
if  we  will;  but  shall  be  remembered  by  him:  from 
whom  we  may  depart,  but  cannot  escape.  In  our 
choice  it  is,  whether  wc  will  be  the  better,  or  the 
worse  for  him.  But  one  we  must;  and  that  beyond 
expression.  '  For  God  will  bring  every  work  into 
judgment,  with  every  secret  thing ;  whether  it  be  good 
or  whether  it  be  evil.'  '^ 


LECTURE   VII. 

CREED. 

Article  II.     ^nd   in  Jesns  Christ,  his  only  Son,  our 
Lord. 

To  believe  in  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker 
of  heaven  and  earth,  is  the  universal  creed  of  nature 
and  reason.  But  divine  revelation  adds  further  pro- 
fessions to  it;  of  which  the  first  is,  that  of  faith  in  our 
ever  blessed  Redeemer:  whose  direction  was, '  ye  be- 
lieve in  God,  believe  also  in  me.'  *  Therefore,  that 
we  may  believe  in  him  as  we  ought,  he  is  described, 
in  the  creed,  by  his  name  and  offices,  his  relation  to 
God  and  to  us. 

1.  His  name,  Jesus:  by  which,  indeed,  many  of  the 
Jews  were  called:  but  it  was  given  him  in  obedience 
to  an  appoinment  from  Heaven,  made  with  a  peculiar 
regard  for  its  proper  meaning.  For  it  signifies,  a  Sa- 
viour: which  is  a  title  conferred,  in  a  lower  sense,  on 
several  persons  in  Scripture,  who  delivered  others 

«  Eecl.  xii.  14  c  John  xir.  1. 


58  LECTURE   VII. 

from  consideraTjlc  dangers  or  evils,  or  obtained  for 
them  considerable  benefits  and  advantages.  Thus  the 
Judges  of  the  Israelites,  that  freed  them  from  the  op- 
pression of  their  enemies,  are  said  to  be  Saviours, 
whom  God  raised  up  "■  to  them.  And  Joshua,  who 
brought  them  out  of  the  wilderness  into  the  land  of 
Canaan,  subdued  it,  and  put  them  in  possession  of  it, 
not  only  was  in  these  respects  a  Saviour  to  them: 
but,  from  a  foresight  that  he  would,  was  called  so,  as 
his  proper  name.  For  Joshua  and  Jesus,  arc,  in  the 
original,  the  same  word;  only  pronounced  a  little  dif- 
ferently. And  Joshua  is  constantly  called  Jesus  in 
the  Greek  language,  and  even  in  our  translation  of 
the  New  Testament,  the  two  only  times  (hat  he  is 
mentioned  there.  ^  But  if  he  deserved  to  be  named 
a  Saviour,  how  much  more  did  that  person,  who  hath 
taught  and  enabled  us  to  overcome  our  spiritual, 
which  are  infinitely  our  worst  enemies;  who  hath 
obtained  for  us,  on  most  equitable  terms,  deliverance 
from  punishment  due  to  our  guilt;  who  hath  destroy- 
ed on  our  behalf.  Death,  and  'him  that  had  the  pow- 
er of  death;'  <=  and  will  bestow  on  us  eternal  salva- 
tion in  the  kingdom  of  Heaven?  With  perfect  jus- 
tice, therefore,  was  the  order  given  to  his  Virgin  Mo- 
ther. 'Thou  shalt  call  his  name,  Jesus;  for  he  shall 
save  his  people  from  their  sins': '^  only  let  us  remem- 
ber, that  none  will  be  saved  from  them  hereafter,  that 
continue  to  live  in  them  here.  For  is  the  holy  '  Jesus 
the  minister  of  Sin?  God  forbid!'^ 

2.  His  offices  are  expressed  by  the  word,  Christ. 
This,  and  the  Hebrew  word  Messiah,  to  which  it  an- 
swers, in  their  literal  meaning,  signify  anointed.  Oil 
was  anciently  in  very  high  esteem  among  the  eastern 
nations,  on  various  accounts.  And  as  they  were 
wont  to  express  almost  every  matter  of  importance, 
by  actions,  as  well  as  words:  one  way  of  setting  any 
thing  apart,  and  appropriating  it  to  an  honorable  use, 
was  by  anointing  it    with   oil.     Therefore,  we    find 

«  Judces  iii.  9.  15.  Neliein.  ix.  27.  b  Acts  vii.  45.  Heb.  iv  8. 

«  Heb.  ii.  14.  d  Matt.  i.  21.  e  Gal.  ii.  17. 


LECTURE    VII.  59 

Jonathan,  in  his  parable,  makes  the  olive  tree  speak 
of  its  fatness,  as  that  'wherewith  they  honour  God 
and  man.'  «  Accordingly,  the  tabernacle,  and  temple, 
and  their  furniture,  were  consecrated  by  anointing 
them.  And  almost  every  sacritice  had  oil,  mixed 
wit!)  flour,  added  to  it,  when  it  was  olTcred  up.  Nor 
was  it  used  only  to  such  things,  but  such  persons  as 
were  distinguished  in  honour  above  others:  to  kings; 
who  are  thence  frequently  stiled  in  Scripture,  the 
Lord's  anointed;  to  priests;  concerning  whom  God 
commands,  in  the  case  of  Aaron  and  his  sons,  '  thou 
shalt  anoinn  them,  that  they  may  minister  to  me  in 
the  priest's  office:' *  And  lastly,  to  prophets, as  where 
Ehjah  is  directed  to  '  anoint  Elisha  in  his  room.'  <= 

And  when  once,  by  custom,  anointing  came  to  sig- 
nify raising  any  one  to  a  station  of  dignity,  the  same 
word  was  used,  even  on  occasions  where  no  oil  was 
actually  employed.  '^  Thus,  when  Elijah  was  bid  to 
'anoint  Ilazael  to  be  king  over  Syria,  and  Elisha  for 
prophet  in  his  own  room;'  we  find  not  that  he  ever 
did  it  literally. "  vVgain,  when  God  is  introduced,  as 
saying  of  (he  Jewish  patriarchs,  before  Moses,  '  touch 
not  mine  anointed,  and  do  my  prophets  no  harm;'-^ 
we  have  no  ground  to  think,  tiiat  they  were  ever  en- 
titled to  this  name,  by  any  solemn  outward  unction, 
performed  upon  them;  but  only  by  the  distinguished 
favour  and  regard  of  Heaven.  And  in  this  sense  it 
was,  that  God  anointed  our  Saviour  '  with  the  oil  of 
gladness,  above  his  fellows;'  s"  that  is,  exalted  him  to 
a  rank  of  dignity  and  honour,  beyond  all  creatures. 
For  in  his  person  were  united,  those  three  offices,  in 
the  highest  degree,  to  which,  you  have  seen,  persons 
were  anciently  set  apart  by  anointing. 

He  is  the  greatest  prophet  that  ever  was;  having 
given  to  mankind,  the  fullest  knowledge   of  God's 

a  Judges  is.  9.  b  Exod.  xl.  15.  «  1  Kings  six.  16. 

d  The  Jews  say  that  '^unction"  si5;nifies  ^'principality  and  greatness;"  Ee- 
land.  Ant,  Hebr.  Par.  2.c.  8.  $■  6,  and  see  this  further  proved,  ib.  c.  9.  $.  6. 
e  See  1  Kings,  lix.  15,  16.     Comp.  v.  19 :  and  2  Kings,  viii.  13. 
/  Psal.  cv.  15.  £■  Psal.  xlv.  7. 


60  LECTURE  vir. 

will,  and  confirmed  his  doctrine  by  the  most  illus- 
trious miracles  and  predictions.  Hence,  Isaiah,  speak- 
ing in  his  name,  long  before  his  appearance,  gave  that 
description  of  him,  which  he  so  justly  in  the  syna- 
gogue applied  to  himself:  '  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is 
upon  me,  he  hath  anointed  me"  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  the  poor.'*  And  St.  Peter,  after  his  resurrection, 
says,  that  God  '  anointed  Jesus  of  Nazareth  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  with  power.'  What  these  words 
mean,  the  next  explain:  '  who  went  about  doing  good, 
and  healing  all  that  were  oppressed  of  the  devil;  for 
God  was  with  him:'*^  and  the  whole  means  just  the 
same  thing,  with  what  he  elsewhere  says,  that  he  was 
'  a  man  approved  of  God,  by  miracles  and  wonders 
and  signs.'  '^ 

In  the  next  place,  he  is  a  priest  of  an  order,  strict- 
ly speaking,  confined  to  his  own  person,  and  of  which 
no  other  ever  was,  or  can  be;  though  in  some  re- 
spects, the  priesthood  of  Melchizedek,  peculiarly  re- 
sembled and  pre-figured  it.  lie  otlered  up  himself 
for  the  sins  of  manlcind,  as  shall  hereafter  be  explain- 
ed to  you.  With  this  sacrifice,  he  appeared  before 
God,  '  not  in  the  holy  places  made  with  hands,  which 
are  the  figures  of  the  true,  but  in  Heaven  itself;'  * 
made  reconciliation  for  us  with  him,  derives  to  us 
continual  blessings  from  him;  and  thus  remains  for 
ever  '  an  high  priest  over  the  house  of  God;'  ^  com- 
pared with  whom,  the  Jewish  priesthood,  and  the  sa- 
crifices, which  they  were  daily  making,  were  but  as 
empty  shadows,  to  the  real  substance. 

But  lastly,  he  is  in  the  highest  sense  a  king;  king 
and  Lord  of  all.  Hence,  in  the  second  Psalm,  he  is 
called  the  •  Lord's  anointed,  whom  he  hath  set  to  be 
King  on  his  holy  hill  of  Sion.'^'  Hence,  in  Isaiah,  it 
is  prophesied,  that  he  should  'sit  upon  the  throne  of 
David,  (that  is,  reign  over  the  people  of  God,)  to  or- 
der and  establish  it  forever.'  "  And  hence  his  title  in 

aChald.  doth  not  understand  tlifr  anointing  here  to  be  with  material  oii. 
b  Isa.  Ixi.  1.     Luke  iv.  18.         c  Acts  x.  38.         d  Acts  ii.  22. 
a  Heb.  ix.  24.  /Heb.  x.  21.        g  Psal.  ii.  6.  a  Isa.  ix.  7. 


LECTURE    VII.  61 

Daniel  is,  'Messiah  the  Prince;' *  or  the  anointed 
Prince;  the  Son  of  Man,  to  whom  dominion  should 
be  given,  and  a  kin2;dom;  that  all  people,  nations 
and  languages,  should  serve  him.'*^  The  completion 
of  these  prophecies,  we  find  in  the  New  Testament; 
where,  as  he  professes  himself  a  King,  but 'not  of 
a  kingdom  of  this  world  ;''^  so  we  find  him,  '  after  the 
suiFering  of  death,  crowned  with  glory  and  honour,'  * 
infinitely  superior  to  the  highest  of  the  mortal  poten- 
tates, '  all  power  being  given  to  him  in  Heaven  and 
in  earth ;'-^  '  and  a  name  above  every  name,  that  is 
named  in  this  world,  and  that  to  come:'=  for  which 
reason,  he  is  in  the  Revelation,  styled  '  King  of 
Kings,  and  Lord  of  Lords.'  '*  This  kingly  power,  he 
exercises,  partly  by  giving  laws,  which  every  one  is 
bound  to  obey,  and  no  one  may  alter,  diminish,  or 
add  to  them:  partly  by  protecting  his  Church  against 
all  its  enemies,  visible  and  invisible,  so  that  neither 
shall  at  any  time  totally  prevail  against  it:  partly 
by  conducting  every  member  of  it,  who  is  dutiful  to 
him,  in  the  way  of  peace  and  happiness,  through  the 
grace  of  his  Spirit,  and  the  ministry  of  his  ordinan- 
ces: and  finally,  he  will,  in  the  most  conspicuous 
manner,  display  his  regal  power,  by  everlastingly  re- 
warding his  faithful  subjects,  and  punishing  all  '  ho 
have  rejected  his  authority,  rebelled  against  it,  or 
disobeyed  it. 

These,  then,  are  the  oflSces,  to  which  God  hath 
anointed,  that  is,  raised  and  exalted  him;  and  in  re- 
spect of  which  he  is  called  the  Christ.  Let  us  all  be 
careful  to  receive  him  suitably  to  them;  and  so  heark- 
en to  him  as  our  Prophet,  that  we  may  partake  of  his 
atonement,  as  our  Priest;  and  live  under  his  protec- 
tion, as  our  King,  for  ever  and  ever. 

3.  The  next  thing  mentioned  in  the  Creed,  con- 
cerning our  Saviour,  is  the  relation  which  he  bears 
to  God,  as  the  only  Son  of  the  Father  Almighty.  In- 

6  Dan.  is.  25.        c  Dan.  vii.  13,  14.        d  John  xviii.  33,  36.         e  Hcb,  ii.  9, 
/  Matt,  xxviii.  18.      g  Plul.  u.  9.  Eph.  i.  21.         A  Rev.  six.  16. 

F2 


62  LECTURE    VII. 

deed,  the  Scripture  speaks  of  God,  as  the  Father  of 
all  men;  and  all  that  are  good,  as  his  t^ons.  Good 
christians  are  so,  in  a  higher  sense,  than  other  good 
men.  Angels  are  the  sons  of  God,  in  a  degree  still 
superior  to  them.  But  yet,  all  other  sonships  are  so 
inconceivably  inferior  to  that  of  Christ,  that  they  are 
in  comparison  as  nothing;  and  he  deserves,  notwith- 
standing, to  be  called,  as  he  is  several  times  called 
in  Scripture,  'the  only  begotten  Son  of  God;'" 
which  greatest  of  titles  appears  to  be  his  due,  on  sev- 
eral accounts. 

First — because,  being  born  of  a  Virgin,  he  had  no 
earthly  Father;  but  was  begotten  of  God,  by  his  Ho- 
ly Spirit.  This  reason  the  angel  gives,  in  St.  Luke, 
*  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  pow- 
er of  the  highest  shall  overshadow  thee:  therefore, 
that  holy  thing,  which  shall  be  born  of  thee,  shall 
be  called  the  Son  of  God.'  * 

Secondly — as  by  virtue  of  the  above  mentioned  of- 
fices, to  which  he  was  anointed,  he  received  higher 
marks  of  divine  favour,  and  higher  degrees  of  divine 
likeness,  than  any  other  person  ever  did.  For  as  him- 
self argues,  with  the  Jews,  if  on  account  of  mere 
earthly  power  and  dignity,  men  were  called  '  Gods, 
and  children  of  the  most  High,' "  much  more  might 
he,  '  whom  the  Father  sanctified,  and  sent  into  the 
world,'  in  so  vastly  superior  a  character,  be  styled,  by 
way  of  eminence,  '  the  Son  of  God.'  '^  And  thus  he 
is  accordingly  styled,  on  this  account:  '  I  will  be  his 
Father,  and  he  shall  be  my  Son': "  '  also,  I  will  make 
him  my  first-born,  higher  than  the  kings  of  the  earth.'-'' 

Thirdly — He  is  the  Son  of  God,  as  being  by  the 
power  of  God,  'the  first  begotten  of  the  dead,'^  re- 
stored to  life  to  die  no  more.  For  thus  St.  Paul  ex- 
presses it:  '  God  hath  raised  up  Jesus  again,  as  it  is 
also  written.  Thou  art  my  Son;  this  day  have  I  be- 
gotten thee.'  '^ 

a  John  i.  14, 18.     iii.  16,  18.  1  John  iv.  9.     h  Luke  i.  35.      c  Psal.  Ixxxii.  &. 
d  John  X.  36,  S;e.        e  2  Sam.  vii.  14.  1  Chr.  xvii.  13.  Heb.i.  5- 
/  Psal.  Ixxsix.  27.    g  Kev.  i.  5.        h  Acts  xiii.  33. 


LECTURE    VII. 


G3 


Fourthly — He  is  so,  as  being  '  Heir  of  all  things,'  " 
and  by  this  'inheritance  having  obtained  a  more  ex- 
cellent name  tlian  men  or  angels:"  they  being  as 
'servants  in  the  house  of  God,  he  as  a  Son.'' 

But  the  most  important  and  eminent  sense,  in  which 
Christ  is  the  Son  of  God,  remains  yet  to  be  mention- 
ed: as,  in  respect  to  his  divine  nature,  he  derived  his 
being  from  tlie  Father,  by  an  eternal  generation;  not 
as  creatures  do,  who  arc  made  out  of  nothing,  and 
were  made  by  llim;  but  in  a  manner  peculiar  to 
Himself,  and  inconceivable  to  us:  by  which  'all  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwells  in  him;'''  and  'He  and 
the  Father  are,' in  the  strictest  union, 'one.'*  For 
God  was  his  'Father,  with  whom  he  had  glory  before 
the  world  was:'-''  and  He  'in  the  beginning  was  with 
God,  and  was  God.'=  'God  over  all,  blessed  for- 
ever."' Of  this  mysterious  doctrine,  i  shall  speak 
somewhat  further,  under  the  article  of  the  Holy 
Ghost:  and,  therefore,  shall  only  say  at  present,  that 
being  expressly  revealed,  it  ought  to  be  implicitly  be- 
lieved; without  attempting  in  vain  to  be  wise  above 
what  is  written:  to  know  more,  than  God  hath  ena- 
bled us.     And  now, 

4thly.  From  all  these  things  arises  what  the  Creed 
mentions,  in  the  last  place,  his  relation  to  us,  our 
Lord.  For  being  the  only  Son  of  God,  he  is  Heir 
and  Lord  of  all  his  Father's  house.  Having  tri- 
umphed over  the  power  of  darkness,  which  held  man- 
kind in  bondage,  we  are  his  by  right  of  conquest: 
and  though  'other  Lords  have  had  dominion  over  us, 
we  are  now  to  make  mention  of  his  name  only,'*  as 
such:  having  purchased  us  to  himself  for  a  'peculiar 
people,"'  with  his  own  blood,  'we  are  not  our  own; 
for  we  are  bought  with  a  price:"  'and  he -died  for 
all,  that  they  which  live,  should  not  henceforth  live 
unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  which  died  for  them, 
and  rose  again.'"'  '  For  to  this  end  Christ  both  died 
and  rose,  and  revived,  that  he  might  be  Lord  both  of 

•  Heb.  i.2.  b  Ibid  4.         c  Heh.  iii.   5,  6.         d  Col.  ii.  9;         e  John  x.  30- 

/  John  xvii.  5.  g  John  i.  1.      h  Rom.  is.  5.        i  Isa.  ssvi.  13.     t  Tit.  ii.  14. 
1 1  Cor.  vi,  19,  20.        m  2  Cor.  v.  15. 


64  -  LECTURE  VII. 

the  dead  and  living:'''  that  he  might  be  such,  not  in 
name  only,  but  in  deed  and  reaUtj  also.  '  For  not 
every  one,  that  saith  unto  him,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  en- 
ter into  the  kingdom  ot  Heaven:  but  he  that  doeth 
the  will  of  his  Father,  which  is  in  Heaven.'*  To  all 
others.  His  words  will  be,  at  the  great  day,  what  they 
were  whilst  on  earth:  '  Why  call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord, 
and  do  not  the  things  which  I  say?'<^  Obedience, 
constant,  universal  obedience,  is  the  only  manner  of 
acknowledging  him  that  will  finally  prove  acceptable 
to  him:  and  in  that  manner  wc  have  solemnly  pro- 
mised that  we  will  acknowledge  him,  and  serve  him 
all  our  days.  Thus,  then,  let  us  ever  .  honor  him; 
thus  let  us  ascribe  to  him,  who  is  our  Prophet,  our 
Priest,  and  our  King,  our  Saviour,  our  Lord,  and  our 
God, '  glory  and  dominion,  forever  and  ever.  Amen.'  ** 


LECTURE    Vin. 

CREED. 

Article  hi.      JVho  was  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
born  of  the  Virgin  Mary. 

After  setting  forth,  in  general,  the  name  and  of- 
fices of  our  blessed  Redeemer,  his  relation  to  the 
father  and  to  us;  our  Creed  goes  on  to  recount  the 
several  particulars  of  what  he  did  and  suffered,  what 
he  continues  to  do  still,  and  will  do  finally,  for  our 
salvation. 

The  first  of  these  is,  that '  the  word  was  made  flesh  :'* 
that  the  eternal  son  of  God,  wonderfully  joining  to 
himself  a  body  and  soul  like  ours,  united  the  human 
nature  with  the  Divine  into  one  person;  thus  becom- 
ing liable  to  the  same  necessities  and  wants,  infirmi- 
ties and  pains:  and  endued   with  the  same  innocent 

a  Rom.  siv.  9.  b  Matt.  vii.  21.  c  Luke  vi.  46.  d  I  Pet.  iv.  11.  v.  11,  Rev.  i.6. 
«  John  i.  14. 


LECTURE  viir.  G5 

passions,  appetites  and  alTections,  that  we  are:  on 
which  account  we  read  in  the  gospel  of  his  feeling 
hunger,  and  pity,  and  grief,  and  anger,  nay,  and  in- 
creasing, as  in  stature, so  in  wisdom  also.:"  not  sure- 
ly in  respect  of  that  nature,  which  'in  the  hcginning 
was  with  God,  and  was  God,*  but  of  the  other,  by 
which  he  was  the  'Man  Christ  Jesus.''=  Furtlierthan 
these  facts,  we  are  not  distinctly  acquainted  witii  the 
extent  and  properties  of  this  unparalleled  union. 
And  it  is  no  wonder,  that  we  are  not.  For  even  that 
of  our  own  souls  with  our  own  bodies  hath  many 
things  in  it,  utterly  beyond  our  comprehension.  We 
must  therefore,  in  all  reason,  without  insisting  to 
know,  'how  these  things  can  be,""^  confine  ourselves 
to  learn  from  scripture,  what  Ihcy  arc.  And  it  hath 
plainly  taught  us,  that  our  blessed  Lord  was  '  conceiv- 
ed by  the  Holy  Giiost,  and  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary.' 
Concerning  the  Holy  Ghost,  there  will  be  a  proper 
place  to  speak  more  at  large,  in  that  article  of  the 
Creed,  which  directly  relates  to  him.  At  present  we 
are  only  to  consider  his  influence  in  the  conception 
of  our  Saviour:  which  conception  was  not  in  the  or- 
dinary course  of  things;  but  God  himself,  being  al- 
ready his  father  with  respect  to  that  divine  nature, 
which  he  had  from  the  beginning,  became  again  so, 
in  a  new  sense,  with  respect  to  his  human  nature 
too,  by  the  incomprehensible  operation  of  his  spirit. 
For  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  use  the  words  of 
scripture,  was  on  this  wise.  '  When  as  his  mother 
Mary  was  espoused  to  Joseph,  before  they  came  to- 
gether, she  was  found  with  child  of  tiie  Holy  Ghost,'  * 
in  persuance  of  what  the  angel  had  told  her,  '  Thou 
shalt  conceive  and  bring  forth  a  son,  and  shalt  call 
his  name  Jesus.  Then  said  Mary  unto  the  angel, 
how  shall  this  be,  seeing  I  know  not  a  man?  And  the 
angel  answered  and  said  unto  her:  the  Holy  Ghost 
shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  highest 
shall  overshadow  thee:  therefore  also  that  holy  thing 

a  Luke  ii.  52.  b  Jolin  i,  1.  «  1  TMn.  ii,  5.         d  Jobniu.9. 

*  Mattb.  i.  18. 


66  LECTURE    VIII. 

which  shall  be  born  of  Ihee,  shall  be  called  the  son 
of  God.''' 

And  thus  in  the  fulness  of  time,  was  accomplished, 
what  had  been  intimated  as  early  as  the  fall  of  man, 
by  tliat  remarkable  expression,  that  Hlie  seed  of  the 
woman  shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head:'*  and  what 
had  been  expressly  spoken  of  by  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
700  years  before  our  Saviour's  incarnation,  'behold 
a  virgin  shall  be  witii  child,  and  bring  forth  a  son, 
and  tliey  shall  call  his  name  Immanuel:  which  being 
interpreted,  is  God  with  us.''=  When  the  scripture 
says,  that  such  a  person  or  thing  shall  be  called  by 
such  a  name,  it  frequently  means  no  more  than  that 
they  shall  have  a  right  to  be  so  called:  that  what 
that  name  signifies,  shall  be  verified  in  them,  shall 
be  true  in  relation  to  tiiem.  There  are  many  in- 
stances of  this  in  the  Old  Testament.  And  there- 
fore as  our  Saviour's  coming  in  the  flesh  was  the 
most  effectal  and  illustrious  manifestation  of  God's 
presence  with  men,  and  favor  towards  them,  that 
could  be:  though  perhaps  in  common  speech  he  was 
seldom,  if  ever,  called,  yet  in  the  language  of  proph- 
ecy he  was  very  justly  called,  Immanuel,  or,  (iod  is 
with  us.  For  in  his  person  God  was  really  amongst 
men,  in  such  a  manner,  and  to  such  purposes  of  grace 
and  salvation,  as  he  had  never  been  before.  And 
therefore  this  name  agrees  perfectly  in  sense,  though 
it  differs  in  sound,  from  his  common  name,  Jesus,  i.  e. 
Saviour. 

After  saying,  that  he  was  born  of  a  virgin,  the 
Creed  adds,  that  it  was  of  the  virgin  Mary:  not  that 
we  are  to  seek  for  any  particular  mystery  in  her  be- 
ing called  Mary:  as  some  of  the  church  of  Rome  have 
imagined,  and  accordingly  formed  groundless  and 
ridiculous  derivations  of  the  word.  But  indeed  the 
name  was  a  very  common  one  among  the  Jews:  by 
which  several  women,  mentioned  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and   several  in  other  histories,  went:  and  no 

a  Luke  1.  31,  34,  35,         b  Cen.  iii.  15.  c  Isa.  vii.  14,     Matth.  i.  23, 


LECTURE  viir.  07 

intimation  was  given  in  scripture  of  its  having  any 
especial  propriety,  or  meaning,  in  relation  to  her. 
But  the  reason  of  inserting  it  into  the  Creed  most  pro- 
hably  was,  because  it  is  set  down  in  scripture;  and 
that,  by  naming  the  particular  person,  of  whom  our 
Saviour  sprung,  he  might  appear  to  be  of  that  fami- 
ly, from  which  it  was  foretold  he  should  arise,  being 
born  of  this  '  Virgin  of  the  house  of  David.'" 

Still  we  are  very  far  from  thinking  lowly  of  one 
whom  first  an  angel  from  heaven,  then  '  Elizabeth 
tilled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  declared  to  be  blessed 
among  women:'*  and  who,  with  the  greatest  reason, 
said  of  herself,  'He  that  is  mighty,  hath  magnified 
me,  and  holy  is  his  name.''^  For  greatly  without  doubt 
she  was  magnified,  a  high  honor  she  received,  in  be- 
coming, as  Elizabeth  styles  her,  'the  mother  of  our 
Lord.'"^  But  this,  however  singular,  was  not  the 
most  valuable  distinction  of  the  holy  Virgin.  In 
scripture,  no  advantage  of  any  other  kind  is  ever  put 
on  a  level  with  that  of  a  pious  heart,  and  a  virtuous 
life.  On  the  contrary,  wlien  on  hearing  one  of  our 
Saviour's  discourses,  a  certain  woman  of  the  compa- 
ny, in  a  transport  of  admiration  and  aifcction,  had 
cried  out,  '  Blessed  is  the  womb  that  bare  thee,  and 
the  paps  which  thou  hast  sucked:'  his  answer  was: 
'  Yea,  rather  blessed  are  they  that  hear  the  word  of 
God,  and  keep  it.'^  Now  of  this  truest  blessedness 
the  virgin  Mary  enjoyed  a  most  eminent  share:  ap- 
pearing, in  all  that  is  said  of  her,  to  have  been  pious 
and  devout,  reasonable  and  considerate,  humble  and 
modest,  mild  and  gracious,  in  the  utmost  degree. 

But  though,  on  account  of  these  excellencies,  as 
well  as  her  peculiar  relation  to  him,  she  was  the  ob- 
ject, both  of  her  son's  dutiful  subjection  in  his  young- 
er years;  and  of  his  tender  care,  even  when  he  hung 
upon  the  cross:  yet  we  find  no  footsteps  of  any  such 
regard  paid  her,  cither  by  him  or  his  disciples,  as  can 
give  the  least  pretence  for  ascribing  to  her  those  pre- 

a  Luke  i.  27.         I  Luke  i.  28,  41,  42.         e  Luke  i.  49.         d  Luke  i.  43. 
«  Luke  xi.  27,  28: 


G8 


LECTURE    VIII. 


rogatives  and  powers,  which  the  church  of  Rome 
doth.  Our  Saviour,  in  more  places  tlian  one  of  the 
Gospels,  treats  her  in  so  cold,  and  seemingly  negli- 
gent manner,  that  one  cannot  well  avoid  thinking  he 
did  it  on  purpose,  to  discourage  that  monstrous  no- 
tion, of  her  right,  as  a  mother,  to  command  him,  who 
was  her  Lord,  as  well  as  ours.  In  the  other  parts  of 
the  New  Testament,  excepting  those  which  I  have 
already  quoted,  or  to  which  1  have  referred,  there  is 
only  an  incidental  mention  made  of  her  occasionally; 
as  there  is  of  many  other  persons:  and  not  the  most 
distant  intimation  of  any  especial  honor  shewn,  or 
directed  to  be  shewn  her.  Yet  doth  the  Romish 
Church  appoint  offices  of  devotion  to  her,  bearing 
her  name;  address  her  as  queen  of  heaven,  for  so 
they  expressly  call  her;  petition  her  almost  in  the 
same  breath  with  God  and  our  Saviour,  that  she 
would  bestow  on  them  pardon  and  grace  here,  and 
everlasting  life  hereafter.  Things  infinitely  beyond 
the  power  of  any  creature  whatever.  Nay,  some  of 
them  professedly  bind  themselves  to  pray  much  of- 
tener  to  her.  than  they  do  to  their  Maker  or  Re- 
deemer: and  appear  accordingly  to  place  much 
more  confidence  in  her.  And  all  this,  not  only  with- 
out the  least  proof,  that  she  hath  any  authority  in 
human  affairs,  or  even  any  knowledge  of  them;  but 
in  open  defiance  of  the  scripture,  which  directs  our 
prayers  to  God  alone;  and  particulary  of  that  pas- 
sage in  St.  Paul,  where  the  voluntary  humility  of 
worshiping  even  Angels,  though  they  are  known  to 
be  ministering  spirits,  is  forbidden,  as  what  may  be- 
guile us  of  our  reward;  and  the  persons,  who  prac- 
tice it,  condemned,  as  'not  holding  the  head,  which 
is  Christ.'*^ 

But  to  return  to  our  subject.  The  foregoing  doc- 
trine of  God  manifest  in  the  fiesh,  is  undoubtedly  one 
very  wonderful  part  of  that,  which  the  Apostle  calls 
'the  mystery  of  godliness.'*  And  yet  there  is  nothing 
in  it,  either  impossible,  or  indeed  more  difficult  to 

a  Col.  ii.  19.  6  1  Tim:  iii.  16. 


LECTURE    VIII.  GO 

tlie  Almighty,  than  in  those  productions  of  his,  which 
we  commonly  call  the  course  of  nature;  and  wonder 
at  them  less,  for  no  otiicr  reason,  but  because  we  see 
them  constantly;  the  manner  of  both  being  equally 
inconceivable. 

And  as  the  miraculous  conception,  and  birth  of 
Christ,  was  easy  to  infinite  powder:  so  was  it  undoubt- 
edly proper  and  fit,  since  it  was  chosen  by  infinite 
wisdom.  Indeed  some  footsteps  of  that  wisdom  even 
we  may  be  able  to  trace  in  this  wonderful  dispensa- 
tion. It  appears  most  becoming  the  dignity  of  so  ex- 
traordinary a  person,  not  to  enter  into  the  world  in 
the  ordinary  manner.  As  the  first  Adam,  possessed 
of  original  uprightness,  was  formed  immediately  by 
the  hand  of  God;  it  was  suitable,  that  the  second 
Adam,  who  came  to  restore  that  uprightness,  should 
not  be  inferior,  but  indeed  superior  in  that  respect. 
Accordingly  we  read,  that  '  the  first  man  was  of  the 
earth,  earthy:  the  second,  the  Lord  from  Heaven.'  " 
It  seems  requisite  also,  that  he,  who  was  designed 
both  for  a  spotless  example  to  us,  and  a  spotless  sa- 
crifice to  God,  should  be  perfectly  free  from  every 
degree  of  that  impurity,  and  inward  irregularity, 
which  the  tainted  nature  of  a  fallen  earthlj^  father 
may,  for  aught  we  know,  according  to  the  established 
laws  of  this  world,  communicate:  whereas  being  pro- 
duced in  the  manner  that  he  was,  may  have  qualified 
him  perfectly  for  becoming,  both  a  '  Lamb  without 
blemish,'*  and  a  High  Priest,  in  every  respect  and 
degree,  'holy  and  undefiled,  and  separate  from  sin- 
ners.'' 

But  whether  these  or  others,  concealed  from  us  for 
wise,  though  perhaps  unsearchable  ends,,  were  the 
reasons  why  his  incarnation  was  in  this  manner;  yet, 
for  his  being  incarnate,  there  are  several  weighty 
reasons  very  evident;  and  possibly  many  more,  en- 
tirely unseen  by  us. 

By  becoming  man,  he  w\is  capable  of  becoming  the 
most  complete  and  engaging  pattern  of  virtue  to  man, 

«  1  Cor.  XV.  47.  4  E.xod.  xii.  5.  ■'■  Heb.  vii.  26. 

H 


"70  LECTURE    Vlll. 

The  example  of  the  invisible  God   might  seem  toe 
high,  and  too  remote  from  our  view.     The  examples 
of  men  were  all,  in  one  respect  or  another,  faulty, 
and  likely  to  mislead  us.     But   our  blessed  Saviour, 
by  joining  in  his  own  person  perfection  with  humani- 
ty, gives  us  the  most  encouraging  invitation  to  endea- 
vor at  doing    so   too,  according  to  our  power.     '  He 
was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without 
sin;'''  'to  leave  us  an  example,  that  we  might  follow 
his  steps.'*    But  in  particular,  by  this  means,  he  has 
set  us  the  brightest  example  of  that  excellent  virtue, 
humility,  that  ever  was,  or  could  be;  to  this  intent, 
that  'the  same  mind   might  be  in   us,  which  was  in 
him:  who  being  in    the  form  of  God  took  upon  him 
the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the  likeness 
of  men. '"^     Of  mutual  love  also  he  hath  set  before  us 
the  most  amiable  pattern,  by  this  amazing  proof  of 
his  love  to  mankind.     '  He,  who  was  rich  in  all  the 
Glories  of  God,  became  poor  for  our  sakes:  that  we 
through  his  poverty  might  become  rich,'"^  in  heavenly 
blessings.     He,  who  was  exempted   from  all  suffer- 
ings, suffered   every   thing  terrible  in  life  and  death 
for  our  good.     Surely  these  are  powerful  motives  both 
to  give  up,  and  do,  and  undergo,  whatever  we  are  call- 
ed to,  for  our  brethren;  and  to  '  love  one  another,  as 
he  hath    loved  us.'*    His    resignation    likewise,  his 
meekness,  his  zeal,  his  prudence,  every  one  of  his 
virtues,  (and  his  whole  character  was  composed  of 
virtues,)  are  most  useful  lessons,  derived  from  his  ap- 
pearing in  our  nature,  that  in  a  very  peculiar  man- 
ner command    our  attention,  and  require  our   imita- 
tion. 

But  further  still;  by  becoming  man  he  had  the 
means  of  most  familiarly  and  beneficially  instructing 
men,  in  every  point  of  faith  and  practice.  'The 
word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us,  full  of 
grace  and  truth,  and  of  his  fulness  we  have  all  re- 
ceived.'-^   This  condescension  enabled  him  to  accom- 

a  Heb.  iv.  15.      b  1  Pet.  ii.  21.       c  Phil.  ii.  5,  6,  7.       d  2  Cor.  viii.  9: 
«  JoUn  xv:  12.      /  John  i.  14,  16. 


LECTURE   vni.  71 

modate  his  manner  of  teaching  to  the  capacities  and 
dispositions  of  his  disciples,  to  remove  their  prejudi- 
ces, insinuate  truth  into  tiieir  minds  gradually:  and 
thus  gently  training  them  up  to  the  kingdom  of  heav- 
en, lay  such  deep  foundations  of  his  church,  as  shall 
never  be  moved. 

By  taking  upon  him  our  nature,  he  was  likewise 
capable  of  being  a  sacrifice  for  our  sins:  a  doctrine, 
which  in  its  proper  place  shall  be  explained  to  you: 
'  Therefore,  since  we  arc  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood, 
he  also  himself  took  part  of  the  same,  that,  through 
death,  he  might  destroy  him  that  had  the  power  of 
death,  that  is  the  devil.'"" 

And  there  was  another  benefit,  consequent  to  his 
suffering  in  our  nature,  vh.  liis  rising  again  in  it;  and 
tiius  giving  us  the  fullest  certainty  of  our  own  resur- 
rection to  eternal  life. 

Even  while  he  sits  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father, 
interceding  for  his  church,  and  ruling  over  it,  his 
being  man,  both  makes  him  a  proper  person  to  rep- 
resent men,  and  ofler  up  their  devotions:  and  affords 
us  the  most  sensible  assurance  of  his  knowing  the 
wants,  and  being  touched  with  the  necessities,  of  the 
nature  in  which  he  shares.  '  Wherefore  in  all 
things  it  behoved  him,'  says  the  Apostle,  '  to  be 
made  like  unto  his  brethren,  that  he  might  boa  mer- 
ciful and  faithful  high  priest  in  things  pertaining  un- 
to God.  For,  in  that  he  himself  hath  suffered,  being 
tempted,  he  is  able  to  succour  them  that  are  tempt- 
ed.'* '  Seeing  then  that  we  have  not  a  high  priest^ 
that  cannot  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmi- 
ties; but  one  who  was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we 
are :  we  may  come  boldly  to  the  throne  of  grace,  in  con- 
fidence of  obtaining  mercy,  and  finding  grace  to  help, 
in  time  of  need/  And  since,  lastly,  we  have  a  judge 
appointed  us,  who  hath  experienced  whereof  we  are 
made;  we  may  be  in  the  utmost  degree  certain,  that 
his  judgment   will   be   according  to   equity;  that  on 

a  Heb.  ii.  14.         b  Heb.  ii.n,  18  f  Heb.  iv.  14,  15,  16. 


72  LECTURE    IX. 

the  one  hand,  all  clue  allowances  will  be  made  to  us; 
and,  on  the  other,  no  undue  ones  must  be  expected 
by  us,  in  that  day  '  when  God  will  judge  the  world  in 
righteousness  by  that  man  whom  he  hath  ordain- 
ed:'" 'and  to  whom  he  hatli  given  authority  to  exe- 
cute judgment,  because  he  is  the  son  of  man.'* 


LECTURE    IX. 


CREED. 


Article  lY.     Suffered  under  Pontius  Pilale,zoas  cruci- 
Jicd.  dead  and  buried;  he  descended  into  hell. 

Immediately  after  the  mention  of  our  Saviour^s 
birth,  the  Creed  goes  on  to  the  mention  of  his  suffer- 
ings; for,  indeed,  his  whole  state  on  earth,  was  a  suf- 
fering state.  By  condescending  to  be  '  made  in  the 
likeness  of  man,' "^  he  exposed  himselftoall  the  neces- 
sities, infirmities,  and  pains,  to  which  men  arc  natur- 
ally subject.  Besides  this,  he  undervrent  the  many 
inconveniences  of  a  low  and  unsettled  condition.  And 
which  was  yet  much  heavier,  tliough  his  whole  life 
was  spent  in  '  doing  good,' ''yet  was  it  spent  also  in 
bearing  troubles  and  uneasiness,  from  all  around  him. 

The  prejudices  and  misapprehensions  of  his  kin- 
dred and  disciples,  were  no  small  trial.  But  the  per- 
verseness  and  malice  of  his  enemies,  was  a  great  one, 
beyond  example.  They  were  no  less  persons  thcin 
the  rulers  and  guides  of  the  Jewisii  people,  with  their 
blind  followers;  whom  the  purity  and  humility  of  his 
doctrine,  and  the  very  needful  severity  of  his  reproofs, 
for  their  pride,  superstition  and  wickedness,  had  ren- 
dered implacable  against  him.  Every  condescension 
to  win  them,  gained  only  contempt  from  them;  eve- 
ry endeavour  to  convince  and  reform  them,  did  but 
exasperate  them:  they  misrepresented  and  derided, 

«  Acts  xvii.  31.         *Jolinv.27:         c  Phil.  ii.  7.         rfActsx.SS. 


LECTURE    II.  "53 

they  reviled  and  threatened,  they  assaulted  and  per- 
secuted him;  till  at  length,  the  hour  being  come, 
which  he  knew  was  the  proper  one  to  yield  himself 
up  to  them;  they  bribed  one  of  his  disciples  to  be- 
tray him  into  their  hands;  terrified  the  rest  into  for- 
saking him;  and,  after  a  most  unjust  condemnation, 
followed  by  a  variety  of  despiteful  usage  amongst 
themselves,  to  obtain  the  execution  of  their  sentence, 
they  accused  him  to  the  Roman  power;  first  as  a 
blasphemer  against  their  law;  and  failing  in  this, 
then  as  a  rebel  against  the  Emperor,  Tiberius  Cae- 
sar, the  most  suspicious  of  men;  by  which  last  sugges- 
tion, they  forced  the  Governor,  though  declaring 
himself  to  be  satisfied  of  his  innocence,  yet  to  com- 
ply with  them  for  his  own  safety.  After  tliis,  he  was 
abused  and  scourged  by  the  soldiers,  crowned  in  cru- 
el mockery,  with  thorns,  and  loaded,  probably,  till, 
he  sunk  under  it,  with  the  cross,  on  which  he  was  to 
suflfcr. 

This  instrument  of  death,  consisted,  as  its  name 
denotes,  of  two  large  pieces  of  wood,  crossing  each 
other.  On  one,  the  arms  of  the  condemned  person 
were  stretched  out,  and  his  hands  nailed;  on  the 
other,  his  feet  joined  together,  were  fastened  in  the 
same  manner;  and  thus  he  was  to  hang  naked,  expos- 
ed to  the  heat  and  cold,  till  pain  and  faintness  ended 
his  life.  The  Jews,  while  they  executed  their  own 
laws,  never  crucified  any,  till  they  were  first  put  to 
death  some  other  way;  after  which,  their  bodies 
were  sometimes  hanged  on  a  tree,  till  the  evening. 
But  it  seems,  that  only  the  worst  of  malefactors,  were 
thus  treated;  who  are,  therefore,  styled  in  the  law  of 
Moses, '  accursed.'  "  The  Romans,  indeed,  and  other 
nations,  crucified  men  alive;  but  usually,  none  but 
their  slaves;  a  sort  of  persons,  most  of  them,  far  low- 
er than  the  lowest  of  servants  amongst  us. 

This,  then,  was  what  the  Son  of  God  underwent, 
when  having  '  taken  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant, 

•  Deut.  xzL  23. 

H2 


74  LECTURE    IX. 

he  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of 
the  cross.'"  Now,  the  torment  of  hanging  thus  by 
nails,  that  pierced  through  parts  of  so  acute  a  feeling 
as  the  hands  and  feet,  could  not  but  be  exquisite;  es- 
pecially as  it  was  almost  always  of  long  duration. — 
And,  therefore,  this  punishment  was  accounted,  in  ev- 
ery respect,  the  severest  of  any.  Our  Saviour,  in- 
deed, continued  under  it  only  about  three  hours;  a 
much  smaller  time,  though  a  dreadful  one,  than  was 
usual.  And  there  are  plain  reasons  for  his  expiring 
so  soon.  He  had  suffered  the  whole  night  before,  and 
all  that  day,  a  course  of  barbarous  treatment,  suffi- 
cient to  wear  down  the  strength  of  a  much  rougher 
and  robuster  make,  than  probably  his  Avas.  Before 
this,  he  had  felt  agonies  within,  grievous  enough  to 
make  him  '  sweat,  as  it  were,  great  drops  of  blood.' '' 
Partly  the  near  view  of  what  he  was  just  going,  most 
undeservedly,  to  suffer,  might  thus  affect  a  mind, 
which,  having  so  much  tenderness  and  sensibility  in 
the  case  of  others,  could  not  be  v/ithoutsome  propor- 
tionable degree  of  it  in  his  own.  And  further,  the 
thought,  how  sadly,  from  the  time  of  their  creation  to 
that  day,  men  had  contradicted  the  end  for  which 
they  were  created;  how  large  a  part  of  the  world 
would  still  reject  the  salvation  which  he  came  to  of- 
fer, and  how  few  receive  it  effectually:  what  guilt 
even  good  persons  often  contract,  and  how  tremen- 
dous will  be  the  final  doom  of  bad  ones:  these  reflec- 
tions, which  naturally  would  all  present  themselves 
to  him  in  the  strongest  light,  on  this  great  occasion, 
could  not  but  cause  vehement  emotions  in  his  breast, 
zealous  as  he  was  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  eter- 
nal happiness  of  men.  But  chiefly  beyond  compari- 
son, the  awful  sense,  that  he  was  to  bear  all  these  in- 
numerable sins  of  mankind,  '  in  his  own  body,  on  the 
tree,'  '^  'being  made  a  curse  for  us,  to  redeem  us  from 
the  curse  of  the  law,' "^  might  well  produce  feelings 
inexpressible    and   inconceivable,   which    operating 

a  Phil.  ii.  7,  8.  4  Luke  xxii.  44.         e  1  Pet,  ii.  24.         d  Cal.iii.  13. 


LECTURE    IX.  7 J 

much  more  powerfully  than  mere  hodily  tortures, 
and  making  '  his  soul  exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto 
death,'"  might  so  exhaust  his  strength  by  heightening 
his  sufl'erings,  as  to  shorten  them  very  considerably. 
And  accordingly  we  read,  that  when  he  had  hung  on 
the  Cross  from  the  sixth  hour  to  the  ninth,  he  cried 
with  aloud  voice,  in  the  words  of  the  twenty-second 
Psalm,  where  David  speaks  as  a  type  and  represen- 
tative, both  of  his  sufferings  and  his  following  glory, 
'  my  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?'  not 
in  the  least  intending,  as  David  before  him  did 
not,  to  signify  a  distrust  of  his  love,  in  whom,  at  the 
same  time,  he  claimed  an  interest,  as  his  God;  but 
only  to  express,  that  those  comforts  of  the  divine  pre- 
sence, which  he  used  to  feel,  were  now,  for  mysteri- 
ous reasons,  withheld  from  him,  in  that  concluding 
hour  of  temptation,  which  himself  so  emphatically 
called  '  the  power  of  darkness.'  *  Then  adding  words 
of  the  firmest  truth,  'Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend 
my  Spirit,  he  bowed  his  head  and  gave  up  the 
ghost.'  "= 

'  Thus  did  God  fulfil  what  he  had  before  shewed  by 
the  mouth  of  all  his  prophets,  that  Christ  should  suf- 
fer.'"^ It  was  intimated  in  the  first  prediction,  made 
upon  the  fall;  namely,  that  the  '  seed  of  the  woman 
should  be  bruised.' «  It  was  pre-figured,  both  in  the 
sacrifices  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  several  remark- 
able portions  of  its  history.  He  is  mentioned  by  Da- 
vid, as  having  his  'hands  and  feet  pierced:'-^  he  is 
largely  described  by  Isaiah,  as  '  a  man  of  sorrows, 
and  acquainted  with  grief;  wounded  and  bruised  for 
our  iniquities,  and  brought  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaugh- 
ter:'s-  he  is  expressly  styled  by  Daniel,  '  Messiah,  the 
Prince,  that  should  be  cut  off.'  ^ 

These  prophecies,  the  Creed  informs  us,  were  ful- 
filled under  Pontius  Pilate:  for  so  was  the  then  Gov- 
ernor of  Judea,  under  the    Roman   Emperor,  called. 

a  Matth.  xxvi.  38.  i  Luke  xxii  53.  c  Luke  xxiii.  46.  John  xix.  30. 

dActsiii.  18.  «  Gen.  iii.  15.  /  Psal.  xxii.  7.         £•  Isa.  liii.  3,  5,  7. 

A  Dan.  ix.  5^5,26. 


76  LECTURE    IX. 

And  he  is  named,  because  the  most  usual  way  of  sig* 
nifying  at  what  time  any  thing  was  done,  ancientl}'^ 
was  by  mentioning  the  person  in  whose  government 
it  was  done;  there  not  being  any  other  method  of 
reckoning,  universally  received,  as  that  of  counting 
by  the  year  of  our  l^ord,  is  now  among  christians. 
And  it  was  very  useful  to  preserve  the  memory  of  the 
date;  partly,  that  in  after  ages  inquiry  might  be  bet- 
ter made  into  the  histories  and  records  of  that  age, 
concerning  these  extraordinary  events,  said  to  have 
then  happened,  and  chiefly,  that  the  Messiah  might 
appear  to  have  come,  and  died  at  that  exact  '  fulness 
of  time,'"  when  it  was  foretold  he  should.  One  mark 
of  it  was,  that  the  sceptre  was  .then  to  be  '  departed 
from  Judah,'*  v/hich  evidently  was  departed,  when 
it  was  reduced  to  be  a  Roman  province.  Another 
was,  that  the  second  temple  was  yet  to  be  standing: 
for  the  '  glory  of  it  was  to  be  greater  than  the  glory 
of  the  former:' *=  and  this  could  he  true  only  by  the 
fulfilling  of  another  prophecy,  '  the  Lord,  whom  ye 
seek,  shall  come  to  his  temple,  even  the  Messenger 
of  the  Covenant,  whom  ye  delight  in.'*^  Accordingly, 
he  did  come  to  it,  and  it  stood  but  a  few  years  longer. 
A  third  mark  was,  that  from  '  the  restoring  of  Jeru- 
salem, to  the  Messiah's  being  cut  off,'  *  were  to  be 
such  a  number  of  weeks;  each  plainly  consisting,  not 
of  seven  days,  but  of  seven  years;  which  number 
was  completed,  while  Pontius  Pilate  was  Governor; 
and,  therefore,  it  was  requisite  to  observe,  that  under 
him  our  Saviour  suffered. 

Next  to  the  mention  of  his  death,  in  the  Creed,  fol- 
lows that  of  his  burial;  a  favor  not  allowed  by  the 
Romans,  to  those  who  were  crucitied,  unless  some 
considerable  person  interceded  for  it.  But  the  Jew- 
ish law  requiring,  that  they  should  be  taken  down  and 
buried,  before  night, -^  and  the  next  day  being  a  great 
festival,  when  the  violation  of  this  law  would  give 
more  than  ordinary  offence  to  the  people; '  Joseph  of 

<  Gal.  iv.  4.  i  Gen.  xlix.  10.  e  Hag.  ii.  9. 

d  Mai.  iii.  1.  e  Dan.  ix.  25,  26.  /Deut.  xxi  22,  23. 


LECTURE   IX.  I  t 

Arimathca,  an  honorable  Counsellor,  who  also  wait- 
ed for  the  kingdom  of  God,  craved  the  body  of  Jesus 
from  Pilate;  who,  after  making  due  inquiry,  if  he 
were  already,  and  had  been  any  while  dead,  gave 
the  body  to  Joseph:  who  buried  him  respectfully,  in 
his  own  new  tomb,  a  sepulchre  hewn  out  of  a  rock,'  " 
the  entrance  into  which,  the  Jews  sealed  up,  and  set 
a  guard  over.*  And  tlius  were  his  own  predictions 
fultilled,  that  he  should  be  crucified,*^  the  most  un- 
likely of  all  deaths:  and  at  the  same  time,  that  of  Isa- 
iah, that  he  should  not  only  be  buried,  but  with  the 
most  unlikely  of  all  burials,  in  such  a  case,  'making 
his  grave  with  the  rich.''' 

The  last  part  of  this  article  is,  that  '  he  descended 
into  Hell;'  an  assertion  founded  on  Psal.  xvi.  10, 
where  David  prophesies  of  Christ,  what  St.  Peter,  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  explains  of  him,  *  that  'his 
soul  should  not  be  left  in  Hell;'  which  imports,  that 
once  he  was  there.  And  hence,  after  some  time,  it 
was  inserted  into  our  Creed,  whicii  in  the  beginning 
had  it  not.  However,  being  taught  in  Scripture,  the 
truth  of  this  doctrine  is  indubitable;  the  only  ques- 
tion is,  about  the  meaning  of  it. 

The  tirst  thought  of  most,  or  all  persons,  to  be  sure, 
will  be,  that  the  word  Hell,  in  this  article,  signifies 
what  it  doth  in  common  speech,  the  place  where  de- 
vils and  wicked  men  are  punished.  And  it  hath  been 
imagined,  tliat  Christ  went  to  triumph  over  the  devil 
there,  and  some  add,  to  rescue  part  of  tlie  souls  whicli 
he  held  under  confinement,-'  by  preaching,  as  the 
Scripture  saith  he  did,  '  to  the  spirits  that  were  in  pri- 
son.'=  But  the  place  of  torment  is  never,  determin- 
ately,  expressed  in  Scripture  by  the  word  Hades^ 
which  both  the  Scripture  and  the  Creed  use  in  this 
article,  but  by  very  ditferent  ones;  though  unhappily, 
our  translation  hath  used  the  same  English  word  for 

a  Matt,  xxvii.  57—60  Mark  xv.  43—46  Luke  xxiii.   50—53,    b  Matt.   xxvU- 
62—66.  c  Matt.  xx.  19.  John  iii.  14,  xii.  32,  33.  d  Isa.  liii.  9.  c  Acts  ii.  24-32. 
/  Ori?en  agaiust   Celsiis  1.2.$.  42,  saitli,  tbat   Christ  converted    souIb   t» 
himself  there.  £\  Pet.  iii.  19- 


78 


LECTURE   IX. 


both,  instead  of  calling  the  former,  what  it  strictly 
signifies,  the  invisible  state,  or  region.  Besides,  we 
do  not  read  of  our  Saviours  triumphing  over  the  de- 
vil, any  where,  but  '  on  the  Cross.'"  And  the  spirits  in 
prison,  to  whonti  St.  Peter  saith  Christ,  '  by  his  spirit, 
preached,'  he  saith  also  were  those  '  which  were  dis- 
obedient, when  the  long-sutfering  of  God  waited  in 
the  days  of  Noah.'  *  And,  therefore,  Christ's  'preach- 
ing to  them  by  his  Spirit,'  probably  means,  his  excit- 
ing by  iiis  Spirit,  which  strove  with  '^  them  for  a  time, 
that  patriarch  to  be  a  preacher  of  righteousness 
among  them,  as  the  same  St.  Peter,  in  his  other  epis- 
tle, calls  him.*^  But  not  hearkening  to  himthen,  they 
are  now  in  prison,  reserved  for  the  sentence  of  the 
last  day.  This  opinion,  therefore,  hath  no  sufiicient 
foundation.  Nor  would  ii  be  found,  on  further  trial, 
agreeable  either  to  reason  or  Scripture. 

Others  have  thought,  the  word  translated  Hell,  to 
signify  in  this  article,  as  it  seems  to  do  in  some  passa- 
ges ol"  the  Old  Testament,  and  as  the  English  word 
anciently  did,  merely  a  place  under  ground,  b}'  which 
they  understand  the  grave.  And  they  plead  for  it, 
that  the  first  Creeds,  which  mentioned  our  Saviour's 
descending  into  Hell,  used  no  other  v/ords  to  express 
his  being  buried,  and  therefore  designed  to  express  it 
by  these.  But  allowing  that,  still  our  Creed,  express- 
ing the  descent  into  Hell  after  the  burial,  must  mean 
a  diiferent  thing  by  it. 

And  indeed  the  most  common  meaning,  not  only 
among  Heathens,  but  Jews  and  the  first  Christians, 
of  the  word  Hades,  here  translated  hell,  was  in  gene- 
ral, that  invisible  world,  one  part  or  another  of  which, 
the  souls  of  the  deceased,  whether  good  or  bad,  in- 
habit. And  this,  however  strange  soever  it  might 
seem  to  the  unlearned,  yet  is  by  others  acknow- 
ledged.«  Probably,  therefore,  all  that  was  intended 
to  be  taught  by  the  expression  now  before  us,  is,  that 
when  our  Saviour  died,  as  his  body  was  laid  in  the 

a  Col.  ii.  13,  15.  b  1  Pet.  iii.  20.  c  Gen.  vi.  3. 

4  2  Pet.  ii.  5,  e  See  Pearson  on  this  article,  p.  239,  240. 


LECTURE    IX.  79 

grave,  so  his  spirit  went  where  other  separate  spirits 
are.  And  we  should  remember,  in  repeating  these 
woids  of  the  Creed,  that  this  is  the  whole  of  what  we 
are  bound  to  profess  by  them.  But  in  what  part  of 
space,  or  of  what  nature  that  receptacle  is,  in  which 
the  souls  of  men  continue  from  their  death  until  they 
rise  again,  we  scarce  know  at  all;  excepting  that  we 
are  sure  it  is  divided  into  two  extremely  dilferent  re- 
gions, the  dwelling  of  the  righteous,  called  in  St.  Luke, 
Abraham's  bosom,  where  J^azarus  was;  and  that  of 
the  wicked,  where  the  rich  man  was:  'between 
which  there  is  a  great  gulph  fixed.'"  And  we  have 
no  proof  that  our  Saviour  went  on  any  account  into 
the  latter:  but  since  he  told  the  penitent  thief,  'that 
he  should  be  that  day  with  him  in  Paradise,'*  we 
are  certain  he  was  in  the  former;  where  '  they  which 
die  in  the  Lord,  rest  from  their  labours  and  are  bless- 
ed;'*^ waiting  for  a  still  more  perfect  happiness  at  the 
resurrection  of  the  last  day. 

How  the  soul  of  our  Saviour  was  employed  in  this 
abode,  or  for  what  reasons  he  continued  there  during 
this  time,  further  than  that  he  might  '  be  like  unto  his 
brethren  in  all  things,*^  we  are  not  told,  and  need  not 
guess.  But  probably  this  article  was  made  part  of 
the  Creed,  in  order  to  assert  and  prove  that  he  had 
really  a  human  soul,  which  was  really  separated  from 
his  body.  And  its  residence  during  the  separation, 
in  the  same  state  and  place,  where  other  '  spirits  of 
just  men  made  perfect'*  are,  surely  made  a  vast  ad- 
dition to  their  felicity.  For  Abraham,  who  rejoiced 
to  see  this  day-^  at  a  distance,  must  be  inexpressibly 
more  rejoiced  to  see  him  present  there.  All  the  good 
persons,  whose  going  thither  preceded  the  death  of 
our  Lord,  must  certainly  partake  in  the  joy.  And  all 
who  came,  or  shall  come  after,  must  feel  much  grea- 

a  Luke  xvi.  22, 23,  26. 

b  Luke  xxiii.  43.  Non  ex  his  verbis  in  coelo  existimandus  esse  parndisu?, 
nequc  enim  ipso  die  in  cctio  fnturus  erat  liomo  Christus  Jesus;  sed  in  inferno 
secundum  animam,  in  sepulcliro  autem  secundcm  carnem.  Aug.  Ep.  57,  ad 
Dardanum.    Pearson,  p.  237.  c  Rev.  xiv.  13.  d  Heb.  ii.  17, 

e  Heb.  xii.  23.       /  John  viii.  56. 


so  LECTURE  IX. 

ter  consolation  for  being  in  a  place  where  their  re* 
deemer  had  been  seen  by  such  numbers  of  his  saints; 
and  to  which,  in  some  peculiar  sense,  his  presence  is 
yet  continued:  for  we  learn  from  St.  Paul,  that  the 
immediate  consequence  of  a  pious  man's  departure 
hence,  is  being  with  Christ.  ^ 

But  were  the  reasons  of  his  descending  into  Hades, 
or  of  the  insertion  of  it  into  our  belief,  ever  so  ob- 
scure, it  may  suffice  us,  that  the  reasons  of  his  suffer- 
ings and  death  are  very  plain,  as  well  as  very  impor- 
tant. With  these,  therefore,  I  shall  conclude  this 
lecture. 

1.  The  first  is,  that  he  might  be  an  example  to 
his  followers.  For  so  he  became  the  noblest  and 
most  engaging  pattern  imaginable  of  that  great  and 
hard  duty,  patient  submission  to  the  will  of  God:  since 
being  of  a  rank  infinitely  superior  to  the  afilictionsof 
this  world,  and  having  done  nothing  to  deserve  the 
least  of  them,  he  most  willingly  chose,  and  cheerfully 
bore  the  most  grievous  that  were  possible.  Well  then 
may  we,  mortals  and  sinners,  take  whatever  befalls 
us,  in  life  or  in  death,  meekly  and  contentedly,  '  be- 
cause Christ  also  suffered  for  us,  leaving  us  an  exam- 
ple, that  we  should  follow  his  steps:  who  did  no  sin, 
neither  vras  guile  found  in  his  month;  who  yet  when 
he  was  reviled, reviled  not  again;  when  he  suffered,  he 
threatened  not;  but  committed  himself  to  him  that 
judgeth  righteously.'*  The  example  also  of  kind- 
ness and  love  to  men  he  shewed  yet  more  fully  by  his 
crucifixion,  than  by  his  incarnation:  foreseeing,  as  he 
plainly  did,  all  (he  pains  and  torments  he  should  un- 
dergo, in  executing  his  great  design  of  reforming  and 
saving  mankind;  yet  deterred  by  nothing  from  un- 
dertaking it,  and  persevering  in  it.  If,  therefore,  he 
so  loved  us,  we  ought  also,  as  St.  John  argues,  to  love 
one  another*"  and  because  he  laid  down  his  life  for 
us,  we  ought,  if  a  proper  occasion  require  it,  even  to 
lay  down  our  lives  for  the  brethren."^ 

a  Pliil.  i.  23.  See  rctevs  on  Job,  v>  11,  p.  399-  *  1  Pet.  ii.  21,  22,  23. 

t  1  John  iv.  11.  <i  1  Jo'm  "'•  16. 


LECTURE   IX.  81 

2.  A  second  reason  of  his  djing  was,  that  he  might 
thus  confirm  the  truth  of  his  doctrine;  to  which  it 
must  needs  add  a  very  powerful  confirmation,  that 
though  the  Jews  expected  a  warhke  and  victori- 
ous Messiah,  and  therefore  his  taking  upon  himself 
a  meek  and  suffering  character,  must  grievously  pre- 
judice them  against  him;  yet  he  declared  from  the 
very  first,  what  you  read  in  St.  John,  that  'as  Moses 
lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  so  should  the 
Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up:"  signifying,  as  the  same 
Evangelist  elsewhere  assures  us,  what  death  he  should 
die.*  And  he  all  along  persisted  in  this  declara- 
tion; rejected  every  opportunity  of  worldly  power; 
fearlessly  taught  the  most  provoking  truths,  and  vo- 
luntarily met  what  he  foretold  he  should  suffer. — 
Stronger  evidences  of  sincerity  than  these,  a  man  can- 
not give;  and  therefore  St.  John  thus  reckons  up  the 
testimonies  to  Christ's  mission:  'There  are  three  that 
bear  witness  in  earth,  the  Spirit,  the  AVater,  and  the 
Blood. "  And  St.  Paul  observes,  that  before  Pontius 
Pilate  he  witnessed  a  good  confession;*^  on  account 
of  vthich,  he  is  called  in  the  book  of  Revelation,  the 
faithful  witness,  or  martyr.* 

3.  The  third  and  principal  reason  of  our  Saviour's 
death  was,  'to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  him- 
self,'-^ that  'being  justified  by  his  blood,  we  may  be 
saved  from  wrath,  and  reconciled  to  God.'-s"  But  as 
I  cannot  now  enlarge  on  this  doctrine  suitably  to  its 
importance,  and  the  article  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins 
will  be  a  proper  place  to  treat  of  it,  I  shall  only  add 
at  present,  that  'God  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for 
us,  who  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righ- 
teousness of  God  in  him.'^  'For  if  one  died  for  all, 
then  we  are  all  dead;  and  he  died  for  all,  that  they 
which  live,  sliould  not  henceforth  live  unto  them- 
selves, but  unto  him  which  died  for  them,  and  rose 
again.''   This  we  should  do  with  great  dutifulness; 

a  Jolm  iii.  14.  J  Jolin  xii,  32,  33.  Kviu.  32.            «  1  Jo''".  ^-  « 

d  1  Tim.  vi.  13.  e  Rev.  i.  5.  /  "eb.  ix.  26. 

B  Rom.  V.  9, 10.  A  2  Cor.  v.  21.  »  n»Ui  14,  IS. 
I 


82  LECTURE    X. 

for  'we  are  not  our  own,  we  are  bought  with  a 
price ;'°  and  with  great  thankfulness,  for  he  hath 
'  delivered  us  from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the 
glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God.'  *  Unto  him, 
therefore,  'that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins 
in  his  own  blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests 
unto  God  and  his  Father,  unto  Him  be  glory  and  do- 
minion, for  ever  and  ever.     Amen.'*^ 


LECTURE    X. 

CREED. 

Article  v.      The  third  day  he  rose  again  from  the 
dead. 

Having  carried  on  the  history  of  our  Saviour  to  the 
lowest  act  of  his  humiliation,  our  Creed  sets  forth,  in 
the  next  place,  how  God  was  pleased  to  exalt  him  for 
undergoing  it.  And  the  first  part  of  this  brighter 
view  of  things,  was  his  Resurrection — that  is,  the  re- 
storing of  his  body  to  a  condition  of  performing  the 
several  functions  of  life,  as  before;  and  the  re-union 
of  his  soul  to  it.  In  discoursing  of  which,  I  shall 
speak,  first,  concerning  the  reality  of  his  rising  again ; 
secondly,  the  circumstances;  thirdly,  the  use  of  it. 

1.  The  reality;  which  depends  on  two  things:  that 
he  was  really  dead,  and  that  he  was  really  alive  af- 
terwards. 

As  for  the  former,  the  whole  of  the  history  shews 
it  fully,  nor  did  any  of  his  opposers  ever  call  it  in 
question.  His  crucifixion  was  public,  at  noon  day, 
before  a  great  multitude.  The  Jews  who  procured 
it,  the  Romans  who  executed  it,  would  both  take 
care  that  it  was  done  effectually.  And  the  piercing 
of  his  side  with  a  spear,  which,  by  the  blood  and  wa- 

«  1  Cor.  vi.  19,20.  b  Rom.  viii.  21.  t  Kcv.  i.  5,  6. 


LECTURE    X.  83 

ter  that  followed,  plainly  appeared  to  reach  his  heart; 
as  it  must  have  produced  some  signs  of  life,  had  there 
been  any  remaining,  must  also  have  destroyed,  in  a 
few  moments,  all  that  could  remain.  Then,  after 
this,  we  find  him  treated  as  dead,  both  by  friends 
and  enemies.  Pilate,  after  a  particular  inquiry  into 
that  very  matter,  granted  his  body  to  be  buried;  one 
of  his  disciples  embalming  him  w^ith  spices,  another 
laying  him  in  his  own  sepulciire;  the  Jews  making  no 
objection,  but  fully  satisfied  of  his  death,  and  only 
careful  to  guard  against  any  pretence  of  a  resurrec- 
tion. 

But  that  notwithstanding,  he  was  afterwards  really 
alive  again,  which  is  the  other  point,  we  have  multipli- 
city of  evidence  of  the  strongest  kinds.  The  sepulchre 
was  newly  hewn  out  of  a  rock,  shut  up  with  a  very 
large  stone  rolled  to  the  mouth  of  it,  and  guarded 
night  and  day  by  a  band  of  soldiers,  who  were  to 
watch  till  the  time  was  over,  within  which  he  had 
said  he  should  rise.  Yet,  on  that  very  day  the  se- 
pulchre was  found  open,  and  the  body  was  gone.  Now 
by  what  means  could  this  come  to  pass?  To  his  dis- 
ciples it  could  be  of  no  possible  use  to  carry  on  a  de- 
ceit, by  getting  his  corpse  into  their  possession.  For 
if  they  had  succeeded  so  ill  with  their  master  at  their 
head,  what  could  they  expect  by  carrying  on  the 
same  scheme  after  they  had  lost  him,  but  to  come  to 
the  same  end?  And  what  in  all  reason  had  they  to 
do,  but  get  quietly  out  of  the  w^ay,  at  least  till  the 
matter  was  a  little  forgotten?  Indeed  Ave  find  in  fact, 
that  far  from  being  enterprising,  they  were  so  dis- 
heartened, even  when  he  was  first  seized,  that  they  all 
forsook  him:  and  there  w^as  little  likelihood  that  they 
should  have  more  courage  to  attempt  any  thing,  just 
after  he  was  executed.  Or  if  they  had,  what  manner 
of  chance  was  there,  that  when  a  band  of  sixty  men, 
used  to  military  discipline,  were  set  to  watch  the 
grave,  they  should  either  find  them  all  asleep  at  once, 
though  it  was  death  to  be  so,  and  not  wake  one  of 
them;  or  be  able  to  convey  the  body  away  from 


84  LECTURE  X. 

them,  though  thej  were  awake?  Evidently  they  must 
have  failed,  and  probably  have  been  seized  in  the 
attempt.  Or  could  they  have  carried  their  point,  yet 
by  the  resistance  made  to  them,  it  must  have  appear- 
ed how  unfairly  they  had  carried  it,  and  all  hope  of 
getting  a  resurrection  believed  must  have  been  utter- 
ly at  an  end.  Since,  then,  the  body  was  not  found, 
and  could  not  by  any  human  means,  or  indeed  for. 
any  rational  purpose,  have  been  carried  away,  it 
must  have  been  raised  by  the  power  of  God,  as  the 
Gospels  relate  it  was. 

But  to  give  a  full  and  sensible  demonstration  of  ity 
he  shewed  himselfalive  to  his  disciples,  '  after  his  pas- 
sion, by  many  infallible  proofs,  being  seen  of  them  for- 
ty days.'"  Now  in  this  they  could  no  more  be  mista- 
ken, than  you  can  in  seeing  and  hearing  me,and  know- 
ing me  to  be  alive  at  this  lime.  As  they  had  almost 
despaired  of  his  rising  again,  they  were  but  too  back- 
ward to  believe  it:  and  indeed  they  would  believe  it 
on  no  other  testimony,  than  that  of  their  own  eyes 
and  ears;  and  Thomas  even  not  without  touching 
him,  and  putting  his  hands  on  the  marks  of  his  wounds; 
which  the  rest,  as  well  as  he,  when  they  were  territi- 
ed,  and  supposed  they  had  seen  a  spirit,  and  not  their 
Lord,  were  invited  to  do.  'Behold  my  hands  and 
my  feet,  that  it  is  I  myself:  handle  me  and  see;  for  a 
spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones,  as  you  see  me  have.'* 

They  could  not,  after  such  trials,  be  deceived  in  so 
plain  a  matter.  And  if  it  be  imagined  that  they 
might  intend  to  deceive  others,  consider:  They  be- 
gan their  testimony  to  his  resurrection,  at  the  very 
time,  and  in  the  very  place,  where  they  affirmed  this 
fact  to  have  happened:  Their  adversaries  had  all  the 
powerof  the  place  in  their  hands;  and  all  the  advan- 
tages that  men  could  wish,  for  detecting  the  fraud,  if 
it  was  one;  and  they  were  in  the  strongest  manner 
interested  and  concerned  to  make  use  of  them.  Is  it 
possible  now,  that  men  so  timorous   as  the  disciples 

I  Acts  i.  3.  b  Luke  xxi?.  37,  39>. 


LECTURE   X.  85 

plainly  were  just  before,  should  immediately  after, 
venture  without  need,  to  bring  the  just  resentment  of 
both  magistrates  and  people  upon  themselves,  by  as- 
serting so  strange  an  event,  if  it  was  not  true?  Yet 
they  did  assert  it,  and  far  from  being  disproved  in  it, 
thousands  at  once,  notwithstanding  the  most  power- 
ful worldly  motives,  and  the  deepest  rooted  prejudi. 
ces  to  the  contrary,  were  convinced  by  them.  And 
thus  they  went  on,  through  many  years,  to  the  end  of 
their  days,  all  of  them  suffering  patiently  and  joyful- 
ly, for  the  sake  of  this  testimony,  every  thing  that 
could  be  terrible  in  life,  and  at  length  death  itself: 
nor  is  it  pretended  that  any  one  of  them  cither  re- 
tracted at  any  time  what  he  had  said;  or  behaved  in 
any  respect  so  as  to  weaken  the  credit  of  it.  On  the 
contrary,  they  were  uncommonly  pious  and  virtuous, 
as  well  as  bold  and  unwearied:  and,  to  complete  the 
strength  of  their  evidence,  they  not  only  taught,  illi- 
terate as  they  were,  a  doctrine  more  worthy  of  God, 
than  the  wisest  of  men  had  known  before,  professing 
to  have  received  it  from  their  Masters  mouth:  but 
they  confirmed  the  whole  by  vast  numbers  of  mira- 
cles, which  he  enabled  them,  and  they  enabled  their 
followers  to  perform,  both  during  that  age  and  the 
next. 

This  is  briefly  the  proof  of  our  Saviour's  resurrec- 
tion. And  if  this  be  sufficient  proof,  then  it  is  no  ob- 
jection, and  more  than  sufficient  was  not  given,  for 
instance:  that  he  did  not  appear  to  the  rulers  and 
whole  people.  Thay  had  no  way  deserved  it.  He 
was  no  way  bound  to  it.  Nor  doth  God,  in  any  case, 
give  men  just  such  evidence  as  they  please;  but  such 
as  he  knows  to  be  enough  for  honest  minds;  and  if 
others  will  not  believe  with  more,  they  must  take  the 
consequence.  Christ  appeared  to  the  Twelve  Apos- 
tles often:  to  500  persons  at  once  besides.  If  this 
number  be  thought  too  small,  when  was  ever  the 
tenth  part  of  it  required  in  any  other  matter?  And  if 
Christ  was  to  appear  to  all  the  Jews,  why  not  to  all 
the  Gentiles?  Why  not  to  all  of  us  at  this  day?  We 
I  2 


86  LECTURE    X. 

have  no  proof  that  any  one,  who  desired  it,  was  refii- 
sed  seeing  him.  Possibly  many,  certainly  St.  Paul, 
were  converted  by  seeing  him.  Some  perhaps  no- 
thing would  have  convinced:  others  would  not  have 
owned  their  conviction.  This  would  have  made 
strange  confusion,  and  had  the  whole  nation  been 
convinced,  their  notions  of  the  Messiah's  temporal 
kingdom,  would  probably  have  thrown  them,  at  the 
same  time,  into  a  rebellion  against  the  Romans;  or, 
however,  the  suspicions  of  the  Romans  would  have 
driven  them  into  one:  and  then  the  Gospel  would 
have  been  thought  a  mere  political  artifice,  to  serve 
a  favourite  purpose.  Nay,  had  they  continued  quiet, 
and  the  Romans  let  them  alone,  even  then  we  should 
have  lost  that  evidence  for  tlie  truth  of  our  Religion, 
which  arises  from  the  persecutions  undergone  by  the 
first  teachers  of  it:  from  the  very  advantageous  cir- 
cumstances, that  tlie  Jews,  our  adversaries, have  been 
the  keepers  of  those  prophecies,  which  prove  Christ 
to  be  come;  and  also  from  their  wonderful  dispersion 
and  preservation;  besides  the  proof  which  will  arise, 
in  God's  good  time,  from  their  conversion  to  Christia- 
nity. 

'3.  Thus  much  for  the  reality  of  Christ's  resurrec- 
tion. The  circumstances  of  it,  which  was  the  second 
head  proposed,  it  is  best  that  you  should  read  in  the 
New  Testament,  where  they  are  told  at  large.  And 
if  the  accounts  which  the  several  evangelists  give, 
should  seem  not  easy  to  be  reconciled  in  some  parti- 
culars, you  will  recollect  that  nothing  is  more  com- 
mon in  all  historians,  than  for  one  to  omit  what  ano- 
ther relates;  to  tell  but  part  of  what  another  tells 
more  fully;  to  join  close  together  in  writing,  what 
happened  at  some  distance  of  time  in  fact;  and  to 
neglect  a  trifling  exactness  in  points  that  are  not 
material.  And  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  directed 
the  Gospel  historians  might  with  great  wisdom  per- 
mit them  to  do  thus:  it  being  a  strong  proof  to  every 
considerate  mind,  that  they  did  not  contrive  together 
what  story  they  should  tell;  but  that  each  related 


LECTURE    X.  87 

fairly  and  artlessly,  what  he  saw  and  heard  at  the  time, 
and  recollected  afterwards,  concerning  this  great 
fact:  of  which  tiic  more  absolutely  certain  they  were 
in  general,  the  less  they  would  think  of  being  accu- 
rate in  every  little  part;  and  of  drawing  up  a  metho- 
dical, and  minute,  and  scrupulously  strict  narration 
of  the  whole  that  had  passed. 

But  there  is  one  circumstance,  which  requires  to 
be  considered  more  distinctly;  that  of  the  time.  The 
almost  constant  expression  of  Scripture,  concerning 
this,  is  the  same  with  thatof  the  Creed,  (hat  he  '  rose 
again  the  lliird  day;  reckoning  the  day  of  his  death 
for  the  first;  the  day,  which  he  continued  dead,  for  the 
second;  the  day  of  his  resurrection,  for  the  third. — 
And  this  is  the  common  way  of  computing,  every 
where.  Tiius  the  Jews  computed  the  eighth  day,  on 
which  their  children  were  to  be  circumcised.  Thus, 
also,  the  physicians  call  that  a  tertian,  or  third  day 
ague,  in  which  there  is  but  one  day  wholly  free  from 
it.  And  thus  men  rcc!:on,in  all  cases.  Sometimes 
the  expression  in  Scripture  is,  that  'he  shouKl  rise 
after  three  days;'  me:ining,  not  after  the  third  day 
was  ended,  but  after  it  was  begun.  Just  as  when  llc- 
hoboam  had  said  unto  the  people,  'come  again  unto 
me  after  three  days;' it  follows, 'so  all  the  people 
came  to  Ilchoboam  on  the  third  day,  as  the  King 
bade,  saying,  come  again  to  me  on  the  third  day.'" 
And  in  one  single  place  of  the  NewTestament,  it  is 
said, '  the  Son  of  Man  should  be  in  the  heart  of  the 
earth,  three  day  and  three  nights.'  *  But  this  without 
doubt  was  intended  to  be  nndcrstood  conformably  to 
the  rest;  as  it  well  may.  For  a  day  and  a  night,  in 
the  Jewish  language,  is  no  more  than  what  we  com- 
monly call  a  day  in  ours.  Hence  we  find  in  the  book 
of  Esther,  that  when  she  had  appointed  the  Jews  to 
fast  for  her  good  success, '  neither  eating  nor  drinking 
three  days,  night  nor  d.iy,'  that  is  to  fast  three 
days  and  three  nighls;  and,  after  that,  she  would'  go 

a  2  Chroa.  x.  5,  12.  See  Wbitby  on  Mark  vui.  31.  *  Matt.  lii.  40. 


88  LECTURE    X. 

into  the  King,'  to  petition  for  them;  the  very  next 
words,  notwithstanding,  are,  that  '  on  the  third  day 
she  put  on  her  royal  apparel,  and  went  into  the 
King's  presence.'"  Again,  when  we  read  that  Elijah 
went  forty  days  and  forty  nights  to  Horeb,  the  mount 
of  God,  1  Kings,  xix.  S,  we  have  no  cause  to  think 
the  meaning  is,  that  he  traveled  incessantly,  night 
and  day;  for  so  his  journey  must  have  been  much 
sooner  ended:  but  that  he  employed  in  it  such  a  part 
of  every  day,  during  all  that  time,  as  he  was  conve- 
niently able.  This  Wciy  of  speaking,  may  seem 
strange  to  us;  but  the  Jews  understand  it  so  well, 
that  not  a  man  of  them,  excepting  a  very  weak  one, 
of  late  date, ''  hath  ever  pretended  to  raise  an  objec- 
tion from  this  passage,  though  very  slight  pretences 
-will  serve  their  turn.*^  Thus,  then,  our  Savioui',  dy- 
ing on  Friday,  and  rising  on  Sunday,  was  dead  three 
days,  and  yet  rose  the  third;  which  was  a  sufficient 
space  of  time  to  prove  him  really  dead;  but  not  suffi- 
cient, either  for  him  to  see  corruption,  or  for  his  en- 
emies to  leave  ofFwatching  his  grave,  or  for  his  disci- 
ples to  despair  absolutely  and  totally;  and,  therefore, 
no  .fitter  time  could  have  been  fixed. 

III.  The  third  point  to  be  considered  is,  the  uses  of 
the  resurrection  of  Christ,  which  are  great  and  many. 

In  general,  it  appears  plainly  from  hence,  that  he 
really  came  from  God;  and  that,  therefore,  whatever 
he  hath  commanded  must  be  done;  and  whetever  he 
hath  affirmed,  promised,  or  threatened,  will  be  found 
true.  For  there  can  possibly  be  no  stronger  proof  of 
his  divine  mission,  than,  when  he  had  been  openly 
put  to  deatli  as  a  deceiver,  for  God  to  reverse  the 
sentence  in  so  extraordinary  a  manner,  as  restoring 
him  to  life  again.  This  was  the  great  evidence,  to 
which  he  had,  before  his  death,  appealed.  No  one 
either  did,  or  could,  object  against  it,  as  not  being  a 

a  Esth.  iv.  16.  v.  1.  See  Whitby  on  Mattli.  xii.  40. 
b  Nizzacbon  vet.  in  VVagenseil,  p.  236,  who  objects  that  at  most  it  could 
be  but  three  days  and  two  nights. 

e  Concerning  this  whole  matter,  see  Reland,  Ant.  4,  1,  21. 


LECTURE  X.  89 

decisive  one.  And,  therefore,  on  its  coming  to  pass, 
as  he  had  foretold  it  would,  he  is  justly  said  by  the 
Apostle,  to  be  '  declared  the  Son  of  God,  with  power, 
by  the  resurrection  fiom  the  dead.'"  But  there  are 
two  things  proved  by  it,  more  particularly, 

1.  That  his  sulFerings  are  accepted  by  our  heaven- 
ly Father,  as  a  full  atonement  for  the  sins  of  men. 
For  since  God  hath  loosed  the  bands  of  the  grave, 
with  which  he  was  holden,  on  our  account,  it  is  man- 
ifiest,  that  he  hath  completed  the  satisfaction  owing 
from  us;  that  he  hath  '  through  death,  destroyed  him 
that  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the  devil;  and 
delivered  those,  who  through  fear  of  it,  were  all  their 
life-time  sul)ject  to  bondage.'*  If,  then,  we  do,  by 
faith  and  repentance,  qualify  ourselves  to  receive  the 
pardon  that  he  is  authorized  to  give;  we  may  boldly 
say,  with  the  Apostle, '  who  shall  lay  any  thing  to  the 
charge  of  God's  elect?  It  is  God  that  justifieth:  who 
is  he  that  condemneth?  It  is  Christ  that  died;  yea, 
rather,  that  is  risen  again,  who  is  even  at  the  right 
hand  of  God,  who  maketh  intercession  for  us.''' 

2.  From  our  Saviour's  resurrection,  appears  the 
certainty  of  our  own.-  The  promise  which  he  made, 
was,  that  '  every  one  who  believeth  on  him,  should 
have  everlasting  life,  and  he  would  raise  him  up  at 
the  last  day:' ''and  to  shew  the  truth  oF  it,  he  raised 
up  himself  from  the  death,  which  he  had  suifered  for 
the  sins  of  men.  This  is  a  proof,  clear  and  strong, 
beyond  all  exception  or  cavil.  Since  Christ  is  risen, 
our  resurrection  is  possible:  and  since  Christ  hath 
promised,  it  is  certain.  If,  then,  '  we  believe  that  Je- 
sus died,  and  rose  again,'  we  must  believe  too,  as  St. 
Paul  justly  argues,  that  '  them,  also,  which  sleep  ia 
Jesus,  will  God  bring  with  him.  For  the  Lord  him- 
self shall  descend  from  Heaven,  with  a  shout,  with 
the  voice  of  the  Arch-angel,  and  with  the  trump  of 
God;  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first;  and  they 
which  are  alive,  and  remain,  shall  be  caught  up,  to- 

«Rom.  i.4.         i  Heb.  ii.  14,  15.       «  Rom.  vUi.  33,  34.       d  John  vi.  40: 


90  LECTURE    XI. 

gether  with  them  in  the  clouds,  and  so  shall  we  be 
ever  with  the  Lord.' "  '  Blessed,  therefore,  be  the 
God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who,  ac- 
cording to  his  abundant  mercy,  hath  begotten  us  again 
to  a  lively  hope,  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ 
from  the  dead;  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible  and 
undefiled,  that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  Heaven 
for  us.'  *  And  may  the  God  of  Peace,  that  brought 
again  from  the  dead  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep, 
through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  make 
us  perfect  in  every  good  work,  to  do  his  will;  work- 
ing in  us  that  which  is  well  pleasing  in  his  sight, 
through  Jesus  Christ;  to  whom  be  glory,  forever  and 
ever.     Amen.'  * 


LECTURE    XI. 

CREED. 

Article    VL     He  nscendeth  into  Heaven,  and  sitteth  on 
the  right  hand  of  God,  the  Father  Almighty. 

The  first  care  of  our  blessed  Lord,  in  consequence 
of  his  resurrection,  was  to  satisfy  his  disciples  fully 
of  the  truth  of  it:  the  next,  to  fit  them  for  instruct- 
ing mankind  in  his  religion,  of  which  it  was  one  prin- 
cipal doctrine  and  evidence.  He,  therefore,  '  shew- 
ed himself  alive  to  them,  after  his  passion,  by  many 
infallible  proofs;  being  seen  of  them  forty  days;  and 
speaking  of  the  things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of 
God.'*^  This  being  done,  as  he  had  now  gone  thro' 
the  whole  of  his  work  on  earth,  it  was  proper  that  he 
should  return  to  that  happy  place  from  whence  his 
compassion  to  a  lost  world  had  brought  him  down, 
according  to  the  words  of  his  own  prayer,  '  Father, 
the  hour  is  come;  I  have  glorified  thee  on  earth:  I 
have  finished  the  work  which  thou  gavest  me  to  do. 

a  1  Thcss.  iv.  14,  16, 17.     b  1  Pet.  i.  3,  4.    c  Heb.  xiii.  20,  21.     d  Acti  i.  3. 


LECTURE  XI.  91 

And  now,  O  Father,  glorifj  thou  me  with  the  glory 
which  1  had  with  thee,  before  the  world  was:'  «  There 
did  not  remain  any  further  reason  for  his  appearing, 
personally,  amongst  men;  till  he  should  '  come  again 
to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead.'  INIany  ages  were 
to  pass,  '  before  that  great  and  terrible  day  of  the 
Lord.'  *  It  was  lit,  therefore,  that,  as  St.  Peter  speaks, 
the  'Heaven  should  receive  him,  until  the  times  of 
the  restitution  of  all  things.' *= 

And  though  the  redemption  of  mankind,  was  com- 
pleted by  him,  so  far,  as,  in  this  lower  world,  it  could 
be;  yet  there  was  left  an  important  jiart  of  it,  to  be 
accomplished  above.  The  Jewish  dispensation,  as 
the  espistle  to  the  Hebrews  more  especially  informs 
us,  '  was  a  shadow  of  good  things  to  come.'''  As, 
therefore,  under  this,  the  great  sacrifice  of  atonement 
was  yearly  slain  without  the  sanctuary  first;  and  then 
the  high  priest  entered  alone,  with  the  blood  of  it, 
into  the  most  holy  place;  there  to  offer  it  hefore  the 
Lord,  and  alone  for  the  sins  of  the  people:  so,  in  the 
gospel  age,  was  our  blessed  Saviour;  first, '  as  the 
Lamb  of  God,'*  to  be  sacrificed  for  our  sins  on  earth; 
and  then,  as  the  'High  Priest  of  our  profession,'-^  to 
'  enter,  with  his  own  blood,  into  Heaven,  the  true  ho- 
ly place,  of  which  the  other  was  a  figure;  there  to 
appear  with  it,  in  the  presence  of  God,  for  us:'»  and 
thus,  having  'offered  one  sacrifice  for  sins,  he  was  for 
ever  to  sit  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God..'  * 

When  the  time,  therefore,  was  come,  for  this  pur- 
pose of  divine  wisdom  to  take  effect;  having  gradu- 
ally prepared  the  minds  of  his  Apostles  to  bear  his 
departure,  he,  in  the  last  place,  with  his  usual  tender- 
ness, gave  them  a  solemn  blessing,  the  v/ords  of 
which,  indeed,  are  not  delivered  down  to  us;  but 
probably  they  might  not  be  unlike,  and  certainly 
they  could  not  well  be  more  affectionate,  than  those 
which  we  find  he  used  for  their  consolation,  even  be- 
fore his  sufferings,  on  a  more  distant  prospoct  of  his 

a  John  xvii.  4,  5-  b  Joel  ii.  31.  e  Acts  iii.  21.         dlleh:  x.  1. 

I »  John  i.  29.  /  Heb.  iii.  1 .  g  Heb.  ix.  12,  24.     A  Ueb.  x;  12. 


92  LECTURE    XI. 

being  taken  from  them.  '  Let  not  your  heart  be 
troubled;  ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me.  I 
go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you,  and  I  will  come  again, 
and  receive  you  unto  myself;  that  where  I  am,  there 
ye  may  be  also.  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my 
name,  that  will  I  do.  And  1  will  pray  the  Father, 
and  he  shall  give  you  another  comforter,  that  he  may 
abide  with  you  forever.  Peace  I  leave  with  you; 
my  peace  I  give  unto  you;  not  as  the  world  giveth, 
give  I  unto  j'ou.  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled, 
neither  let  it  be  afraid,'"  It  is  expedient  for  you,  that 
I  go  away;  for  if  I  go  not  away,  the  comforter  will 
not  come  unloyou;  but  if  I  depart,  I  will  send  him 
unto  you,  and  your  heart  shall  rejoice,  and  your  joy 
no  man  takcth  from  you.  These  things  I  have  spoken 
unto  you,  that  in  me  ye  might  have  peace.  In  the 
worldye  shall  have  tribulation;  but  be  of  good  cheer, 
I  have  overcome  the  world.'* 

Undoubtedly,  with  such  like  words  of  grace  and 
affection,  which  every  good  christian  may  and  ought 
to  consideras  spoken  to  himself,  did  our  Lord,  before 
his  departure,  comfort  his  disciples  under  the  imme- 
diate view  of  that  interesting  event.  'And  it  came 
to  pass,'  the  evangelist  informs  us,  '  that  as  he'was 
yet  blessing  them,  while  they  beheld,  he  was  taken 
up;  and  a  cloud  received  him  out  of  their  sight.'' 

It  is  hardly  possible  to  conceive  stronger  or  more 
various  emotions  of  mind,  than  those  with  v/hich  the 
breast  of  every  one  of. his  followers  must  be  tilled,  on 
this  occasion:  of  surprise  and  astonishment  at  what 
they  had  seen;  of  gratitude  and  tend('rness,in  return 
for  what  they  had  heard;  of  grief  and  fear,  concern- 
ing their  now  solitary  condition;  yet  mixed,  at  the 
same  time,  with  submission  and  hope,  and  faithful 
trust  in  their  dear  Lord.  But  as  he  himself  had  told 
them,  '  if  they  loved  him,  they  would  rejoice,  because 
he  went  unto  the  Father;''^  so,  in  fact, amidst  all  the 
passions  working  within  them,  this   prevailed  above 

a  John  xiv.  1,  2,  13,  16,  27.  b  Jolin  xvi.  7,  22,  33. 

c  Luke  xxJv.  51.    Acts  i.  9.  d  John  xiv.  28. 


LECTURE    XI.  93 

the  rest;  and  triumphant  gladness  of  heart  was  the 
feeling,  that  took  possession  and  dwelt  with  them. — 
'They  worshiped  him,  and  returned  to  Jerusalem, 
with  great  joy;  and  were  continually  in  the  temple, 
praising  and  blessing  God.'* 

Let  us,  then,  rejoice  also  in  this  glorious  exaltation 
of  (yhrist  our  head.  Let  us  consider  the  opportunity 
it  gives  us,  of  exercising  that  faith  in  him,  which  the 
Apostle  justly  calls 'the  evidence  of  things  notseen;'* 
and  of  obtaining  a  reward,  suitable  to  the  greater 
virtue  and  piety  that  we  show,  in  conducting  aright 
our  understandings,  and  our  hearts  and  our  lives,  un- 
der a  lower,  and  yet  sufficient  degree  of  evidence 
for  our  holy  Religion.  'Because  tliou  hast  seen  me,' 
saith  he,  himself,  to  St.  Thomas,  '  thou  hast  believed; 
blessed  are  they,  that  have  not  seen,  and  yet  have 
believed.'  <=  This  blessedness,  therefore,  by  his  as- 
cension, he  hath  left  to  his  whole  Church  the  means 
of  acquiring:  'that  the  trial  of  your  faith,'  as  St.  Pe- 
ter expresses  it,'  may  be  found  unto  praise,  and  ho- 
nour, and  glory,  at  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ; 
whom  not  having  seen,  ye  love;  and  in  whom,  though 
now  ye  see  him  not,  yet  believing,  ye  rejoice  with 
joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory;  receiving  the  end 
of  your  faith,  the  salvation  of  your  souls.' "^  Let  us 
consider,  too,  that  if  his  absence  tries  our  faith,  the 
manner  of  his  going  away,  powerfully  confirms  it. 
For  the  Apostles  were  eye-witnesses  of  his  ascending 
into  the  clouds:  and  what  stronger  proof  need  we, 
of  his  coming  from  God,  than  his  being  thus  taken 
up  to  him  again,  according  to  his  own  repeated  pre- 
dictions; besides,  the  remarkable,  though  obscurer 
intimations  of  the  same  things,  in  the  Old  Testament? 

Nor  let  it  seem  strange,  that  the  Scripture  should 
speak  of  one  especial  place,  as  the  peculiar  and  ap- 
propriated residence  of  God.  We  acknowledge, 
that  he  is,  and  cannot  but  be,  every  where.  'Heaven 
and  earth  are  full  of  the  majesty  of  his  glory;'*  yea, 

a  Luke  xxiv,  52.    b  Heb.  xi.  1 .    e  John  xx.  29.    d  1  Pet.  i.  7,  8,  9.    «  Te  De«m 

K 


94  LECTURE    XI. 

'  the  Heaven,  and  Heaven  of  Heavens,  cannot  con- 
tain him.'  "^  '  Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  Spirit?  or 
whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  presence?  If  I  ascend 
up  into  Heaven,  thou  art  there:  if  I  go  down  to  hell, 
thou  art  there,  also.  If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morn- 
ing, and  remain  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea; 
even  there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me,  and  thy  right  hand 
shall  hold  me.""  Yet,  notwithstanding  this,  the  Scrip- 
ture constantly  mentions  him,  as  having  condescend- 
ed to  establish  his  throne  in  one  particular  place; 
and  exhibit  himself  there,  in  the  symbol  of  light  in- 
accessible: there,  therefore,  his  holy  angels  attend 
upon  him,  and  see  his  face;  from  whence  he  issues 
forth  his  commands,  as  princes  do  theirs,  from  the 
royal  palace;  and  is  represented,  as  viewing  and  ob- 
serving the  actions  of  his  creatures;  and  pouring 
down  blessings  or  vengeance,  as  their  behaviour  re- 
quires. '  The  Lord  is  in  his  holy  temple;  the  Lord's 
seat  is  in  Heaven:  his  eyes  behold,  his  eye-lids  try 
the  children  of  men.'  '^  Here  it  is,  that  '  thousand 
thousands  ministerunto  him;  and  ten  thousand  times 
ten  thousand,  stand  before  him.'  ''■  celebrating  his 
praises,  and  rejoicing  in  the  light  of  his  countenance. 
For '  in  his  presence  is  fulness  of  joy,  and  at  his  right 
hand  there  are  pleasures  for  evermore.'  * 

Into  this  blessed  place,  then  did  our  Saviourascend, 
and  there,  as  the  Creed,  in  conformity  with  Scrip- 
ture, teaches,  'sat  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Fa- 
ther.' Not  that  God,  who  is  an  iniinite  Spirit,  and  by 
the  word  of  his  power,  doth  whatever  he  pleases, 
both  in  Heaven  and  earth;  either  hath,  or  needs,  bo- 
dily members,  for  instruments  of  perfection  or  action, 
like  our  imperfect  nature.  But  these  things  are  figu- 
ratively ascribed  to  him,  in  condescension  to  human 
capacities.  And  the  meaning  of  such  figures  is  ea- 
sily understood.  He  is  the  King  of  the  whole  world. 
Now,  into  a  king's  immediate  presence,  not  all  per- 
sons are  usually  admitted;  and  of  those  who  are,  not 

a  1  Kings  viii.  27.  b  Psal.  csx.xix.  7 — 10  c  Psal.  x\.  4 

dDan.viJ.  10.  «  Psal.  xvi.  12. 


LECTURE    XI.  95 

all  possess  ll)e  same  rank  and  degree  of  nearness  to 
him;  but  every  one  sucli  as  he  pleases  to  appoint. 
Now,  the  higliest  mark  of  dignity  which  the  eastern 
monarchs  conferred,  on  the  person  whom  they  esteem- 
ed and  favored  most,  was  placing  him,  on  occasions 
of  solemnity,  at  their  right  hand:  the  second,  in  ho- 
nour, was  next  to  the  royal  person,  on  the  other  side; 
and  the  rest  of  the  court  succeeded  in  the  same  order. 
Thus,  when  the  mother  of  King  Solomon  came  to 
petition  for  Adonijah,  the  Scripture  informs  us,  'he 
sat  down  on  the  throne,  and  caused  a  seat  to  be  set 
for  her,  and  she  sat  on  his  right  hand.'  "■  And  when 
the  sons  of  Zebcdee,  had,  by  mistake,  imagined  the 
kingdom  of  our  Saviour  to  be  like  one  of  this  world, 
their  petition  was,  '  that  they  might  sit,  one  on  his 
right  hand,  the  other  on  his  left,  in  his  kingdom.* 
Sometimes  the  posture  of  standing  is  mentioned;  as 
Psal.  xiv.  9.  'on  thy  right  hand  did  stand  the  queen, 
in  gold  of  Opliir.'  And,  when  the  court  of  Heaven, 
attending  on  their  sovereign,  is  described:  'I  saw,' 
saith  the  prophet,  'the  Lord  sitting  on  his  throne; 
and  all  the  host  of  Heaven  standing  by  him,  on  his 
right  hand  and  on  his  left.'  •=  When,  therefore,  our 
blessed  Lord  is  represented  by  St.  Stephen  to  stand, 
or  in  the  110th  Psalm,  and  frequently  in  the  New 
Testament,  to  sit  at  the  right  hand  of  God;  we  are 
to  conceive  by  it,  not  that  he  is  confined  to  this  or 
that  posture,  or  place;  but  that  he  is  raised,  in  respect 
of  his  human  nature,  to  a  rank  and  station  above  all 
creatures:  possest  of  the  fullest  happiness,  the  high- 
est honour,  and  the  most  sovereign  authority;  that 
authority,  with  which  Daniel  foretells  his  being  in- 
vested: 'Isa\i,and  behold,  one,  like  the  Son  of  man, 
came  with  the  clouds  of  Heaven;  and  came  to  the  an- 
cient of  days,  and  they  brought  him  near  before  him; 
and  there  was  given  him,  dominion  and  glory,  and  a 
kingdom;  that  all  people,  nations  and  languages, 
should  serve  him;  his  dominion  is  an  everlasting  do- 

a  1  Kings  ii.  19.  h  Matt.  xi.21.  «  1  Kings  xiii.  19. 


96  LECTURE   XI. 

minion,  which  shall  not  pass  away;  and  his  kingdom 
that  which  shall  not  be  destroyed.'  "  The  fulfilling  of 
which  prophecy  is  thus  recorded  by  the  Apostle,  'God 
raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  set  him  at  his  own 
right  hand,  in  the  Heavenly  places,  far  above  all  prin- 
cipality and  power,  and  might  and  dominion,  and  ev- 
ery name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but 
also  in  that  which  is  to  come,'  *  '  that  at  the  name  of 
Jesus,  every  knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  Heaven, 
and  things  in  earth,  and  things  under  the  earth;''' 
'  and  he  must  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  things  under 
his  feet.'  ^  Sitting  at  God's  right  baud,  implies  this 
pre-eminence:  'for  to  which  of  the  angels,  said  God, 
at  any  time,  sit  thou  on  my  right  hand,  until  I  make 
thine  enemies,  thy  footstool.'  * 

Indeed,  '  all  power,  both  in  Heaven  and  in  earth, 
was  given  to-^  our  Saviour,  before  his  ascension;  but 
not  till  afterwards  was  his  title  to  it  publicly  recog- 
nized, and  possession  of  it  solemnly  taken  by  him: 
which,  in  other  words,  is  '  sitting  down  at  the  right 
hand  of  God.' 

But  let  us  consider,  not  only  the  nature  of  our  Sa- 
viour's exaltation;  but  what  principally  concerns  us, 
the  benefits  of  it  to  mankind,  which  are  three;  his 
sending  the  Holy  Spirit  to  abide  forever  with  his 
Church;  his  interceding  for  it  with  the  Father;  his 
powerful  protection  of  it  against  its  enemies. 

1.  His  sending  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  was  reserved 
with  great  wisdom,  till  after  his  ascension;  both  be- 
cause it  was  then  most  needed,  to  comfort  his  disci- 
ples under  the  loss  of  his  personal  presence,  and,  also, 
because  it  afforded  a  new  evidenceof  his  divine  pow- 
er, that,  far  from  being  in  a  worse  condition  by  his 
departure,  they  were  endued  with  higher  degrees  of 
miraculous  gifts,  than  ever  they  had  been  before.  St. 
John,  therefore,  upon  our  Saviour's  promising  the 
Spirit  to  them  who  should  believe  on  him,  observes, 
that  '  the  Spirit  was  not  yet  given,  because  Jesus  was 

a  Dan.  vii.  13,  14.  b  Eph.  i.  20,  21.  c  Pliil.  ii.  10. 

d  1  Cor.  XV.  25.  e  Ueb.  i.  13.  /  Matt.  xviiL  18. 


LECTURE    XI.  97 

not  yet  grorified.' "  And  St.  Peter,  on  the  day  when 
it  was  bestowed,  saith,  'therefore,  being  by  the  right 
hand  of  God,  exalted,  and  having  received  of  the  Fa- 
ther the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  halii  shed 
forth  this,  which  ye  now  see  and  hear.'  *  The  mira- 
culous gifts  of  the  Holy  Gliost,  indeed,  being  no  lon- 
ger necessary,  ceased  many  ages  ago:  but  his  sancti- 
fying graces,  a  much  more  important  blessing,  which 
we  shall  always  need,  continue  still;  and  constitute 
his  present  share  in  the  work  of  our  redemption; 
agreeable  to  the  assurance  which  our  blessed  Lord 
gave,  of  *  another  comforter,  to  abide  with  us,  and 
dwell  in  us  forever.'  <= 

2.  His  Intercession  with  the  Father.  For  his  ob- 
lation of  himself  being  accepted,  as  the  foundation 
of  a  new  covenant  of  mercy  and  favour;  we  have 
now  an  Advocate  in  Heaven,  sure  to  prevail:  'an 
High  Priest,  that  can  be  touched  with  the  feeling 
of  our  infirmities,  having  been  tempted  in  all  points 
as  we  arc,''  ever  appearing  for  us  in  the  presence  of 
God;  and  eflicaciously  pleading  the  pardon,  which 
he  hath  purchased,  for  all  who  repent  of  and  forsake 
their  sins.  '  Who  then  is  he  that  condcmncth?  It 
is  Christ  that  died;  yea  rather,  that  is  risen  again; 
who  is  even  at  the  right  hand  of  God;  who  also  ma- 
keth  intercession  for  us.'* 

3.  His  protection  of  his  Church  against  all  its  ene- 
mies, spiritual  and  temporal.  The  attempts  of  the 
former  he  defeats  by  the  above-mentioned  methods, 
the  influences  of  his  Spirit  to  preserve  us  from  sin, 
and  the  efficacy  of  his  intercession  to  procure  us 
pardon  on  most  equitable  terms,  whenever  we  fall 
into  it.  As  for  the  latter:  upon  the  first  opposers  of 
his  Church,  the  Jewish  and  Roman  persecutors,  his 
vindictive  power  hath  been  most  remarkably  exer- 
cised: and  the  succeeding  adversaries  of  religion, 
in  every  age,  have  served,  and  shall  serve,  only  for  a 

a  John  vii.  39.  b  Acts  ii.  33.  «  John  xiv.  16,  17. 

d  Fleb.  iv.  15.  «  Rom.  viii.  34. 

K3 


98  LECTURE  xr. 

trial  of  '  the  faith  and  patience  of  the  saints,"  gen- 
erally, without  prevailing  to  their  harm  even  here; 
and  always  being  subservient  to  their  happiness 
hereafter:  till  at  length  the  appointed  time  shall 
come,  when  '  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  be- 
come the  kingdoms  of  the  Lord  and  of  his  Christ:'* 
and  having  reigned  on  this  earth,  till  its  period  ar- 
rives, he  shall  resign  up  to  God  his  kingdom  of  grace, 
its  end  being  accomplished ;  and  reign  over  his  Saints, 
in  that  of  glory,  for  ever  and  ever:  fully  performing 
that  invaluable  promise.' — 'To  him  that  overcometh 
will  I  grant  to  sit  with  me  in  my  throne;  even  as  I 
also  overcome,  and  am  sat  down  with  my  Father  In 
his  throne.*^ 

These  things  being  so,  instead  of  amusing  our- 
selves with  the  speculative  consideration  of  his  as- 
cension, and  the  reasons  of  it;  we  should  learn  from 
his  departure  to  prepare  for  his  return.  To  this  was 
the  attention  of  those,  who  saw  it,  directed  by  the 
angels.  'Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye  gazing 
up  into  heaven?  This  same  Jesus,  which  is  taken 
up  from  you,  shall  so  come,  in  like  manner  as  ye 
have  seen  him  go  into  Heaven.**  The  present  ar- 
ticle of  our  Creed  is,  that  he  '  sitteth  at  the  right 
hand  of  God.'  The  next  is,  that  '  from  thence  he 
shall  come  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead.'  And 
what  sliould  this  very  close  connexion  teach  us,  but 
that  we  all  be  careful  to  behave  in  such  manner, 
that  we  may  be  ready  to  '  meet  our  Lord  '  «  at  his 
coming,  and  enter  with  him  'into  his  Joy?-^  He  hath 
descended  upon  earth  to  procure  us  a  right  to  future 
happiness,  and  instruct  us,  how  to  obtain  it:  he  is 
now  ascended  up  into  Heaven,  to  '  prepare  a  place 
for  us:"=  there  seated  in  Glory,  he  invites  us  to  him. 
What  then  remains,  but  that  we  fix  'our  hearts 
where  our  treasure  is:'*  and  'set  our  affections  on 
those  things  that  are  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  at 

(I  Rev.  xiii.  10.  6  Rev.  si.  15.  <:  Rev.  iii.  21.  (i  Acts  i.  ll- 

ii  1  TJiesa.  iv.  17.        /Mutt.  XXV.  21.         ff  John  xiv.  2.  ^IMatt.vi.  21 


LECTURE  xir.  99 

theriglit  hand  of  God?''  But  in  vain  do  we  rejoice 
in  a  glorified  Saviour,  unless  we  become 'his  friends, 
by  doing  what  he  commands  usi'J  in  vain  do  we  Uft 
up  our  eyes  and  our  wishes  to  his  happy  abode:  un- 
less, by  resembling  him  now  in  purity  and  holiness, 
wc  qualify  ourselves  to  partake  hereafter  tlie  resem- 
blance of  his  Glory.  'Who  shall  ascend  into  the 
hill  of  the  Lord?  or  who  sh;dl  stand  in  his  holy 
place?  Even  he  that  leadeth  an  uncorrupt  life,  and 
doth  the  thing  which  is  right,  and  speaketh  the  truth 
from  his  heart.  lie  that  hath  used  no  deceit  in  his 
tongue,  nor  done  evil  to  his  neighbor,  and  hath  not 
slandered  his  neighbor.  lie  that  sittcth  not  by  him- 
self; but  is  lowly  in  his  own  eyes.  In  whose  eyes  a 
vile  person  is  contemned:  but  he  honoureth  them 
that  fear  the  Lord.  lie  that  hath  clean  hands  and 
a  pure  heart,  and  doth  not  lift  up  his  soul  unto  vani- 
ty, lie  shall  receive  the  blessing  from  the  Lord, 
and  righteousness. from  the  God  of  his  salvation.'* 


LECTURE   XII. 

CREEP. 

Article  vii.     From  thence  he  shall  come  to  judge  the 
quick  and  the  dead. 

This  is  the  great  and  awful  doctrine,  which  makes 
all  the  preceding  ones  so  important  to  us;  that  'God 
hath  appointed  a  da}"^,  in  the  wliich  he  will  judge  the 
world  in  righteousness  by  that  man  whom  he  hath 
ordained:'"  a  truth,  the  belief  of  which  it  infinitely 
concerns  every  one  of  us  to  settle  well  in  our  souls, 
and  be  duly  affected  by  it. 

The  reason  of  our  minds,  and  even  the  feelings  of 
our  hearts,  give  us  very  strong   grounds  to   be  per- 

I  Col.  iii.  1,2.      j  Jolin  sv.  14.       *  Tsal.  xv.  and  xiiv.      a  .'Vets  xvii  31. 


I 


100  LECTURE    Xir. 

suaded  of  a  future  judgment,  had  we  no  further  evi- 
dence. We  arc  all  of  us,  by  nature,  capable  of  per- 
ceiving what  is  just  and  right  for  us  to  do,  and  what 
is  otherwise:  we  are  all  capable  of  acting  according 
to  this  perception:  we  all  see,  it  is  fit  we  should;  and 
fit  we  should  sutfer  for  it,  if  wc  do  not.  Wiien  we 
behave  according  to  our  duty,  there  springs  up  a  de- 
lightful peace  and  security  within  our  breasts:  when 
we  knowingly  transgress  it,  we  not  only  disapprove 
and  accuse  ourselves,  whether  we  will  or  not,  but  ex- 
perience a  foreboding  expectation  of  just  recom- 
pcnce.  'For  wickedness  condemned  by  her  own 
witness  is  very  timorous;  and,  being  pressed  with  con- 
science, always  forecasteth  grievous  things.'*  Nor  do 
these  horrors  relate  only,  or  chiefly,  to  what  we  have 
deserved  to  sutler  in  this  world;  but  when  our  share 
in  it  draws  to  an  end,  and  death  approaches,  then 
our  fears  grow  stronger  than  ever,  concerning  some- 
what, which  is  yet  to  come.''  And  thus  are  all  men 
'a  law  unto  themselves;  and  shew  the  work  of  the 
law  written  in  their  hearts,  their  conscience  also 
bearing  witness."^ 

That  some  persons  are  able  to  overwhelm  these 
apprehensions  nnder  business  and  pursuits,  to  drown 
them  in  debauchery  and  intemperance,  to  divert 
them  by  pleasures  and  amusements,  to  set  up  little  cav- 
ils against  them,  and  even  affect  to  ridicule  them;  is 
no  objection  in  the  least  to  their  being  just,  and  well 
grounded.  The  feeling  is  plainly  natural:  every  one 
of  these  methods  to  get  rid  of  it,  is  plainly  a  force 
upon  nature.  Often  it  returns  with  double  terror, 
for  having  been  unjustly  driven  away;  and  seldom, 
or  never,  can  the  most  thoughtless,  or  most  hardened 
person,  lose  entirely  those  fears,  which  are  seated  in 
the  very  bottom  of  our  souls:  and  which,  if  we  could 
lose,  we  should  only  be  the  more  surely  miserable: 
for  still  the  foundation  of  them  would  remain  unsha- 
ken. 

»  VVisd.   ivii.  11.  c  Plat,  de.  Eep.  1.  i.  dRoni.  ii.  14, 15. 


LECTURE    Xir.  lOl 

Slill  it  would  be  true,  that  there  is  a  God,  who 
made  us,  and  is  at  all  times  intimately  present  with 
us;  who  therefore  with  unspeakably  more  case  per- 
ceives all  that  passes  in  our  very  hearts,  than  we  do 
one  another's  outward  actions:  who  being  perfect  in 
knowledge,  distinguishes,  in  every  case,  what  is  good 
from  what  is  evil:  and  being  perfect  in  holiness,  ap- 
proves the  one,  and  abhors  the  other.  Even  we  are 
thus  atlccted  in  some  degree;  and  his  infinite  purity 
must  therefore  be  infinitely  more  so.  Now  what 
he  hates  he  can  punish  as  he  pleases;  and  reward 
what  he  loves:  for  all  power  is  in  his  hands;  all  na- 
ture depends  on  the  word  of  his  mouth;  and  he  is 'the 
same  yesterdaj-,  to-day,  and  forever.''' 

Think  then:  Will  the  righteous  and  holy  king 
of  the  whole  earth,  when  he  hath  planted  his  laws 
in  our  hearts,  when  he  hath  made  us  for  the  very  pur- 
pose of  obeying  them,  when  he  hath  filled  us  with  so 
deep  a  sense  of  what  will  follow,  if  we  disobey  them; 
suffer  us,  after  this,  to  despise  and  dishonour  him,  to 
injure  his  creatures,  abuse  ourselves,  and  disappoint 
the  great  design  of  forming  us:  and  yet  take  no  no- 
tice? Doth  he  govern  the  world,  to  the  very  least 
parts  of  it,  with  so  much  wisdom  and  care,  in  every 
other  respect:  and  will  he  be  so  unwise  and  negli- 
gent, as  to  overlook  the  one  thing  that  deserves  his 
attention  above  all;  and  make  no  distinction  'be- 
tween him  that  serveth  God,  and  him  that  serveth 
him  not?'-^  It  cannot  be;  and  the  conscience  of  every 
one  of  you,  at  tliis  moment,  tells  you  it  cannot. 

If  then  such  a  distinction  will  be  made,  when  and 
where  will  it  be  made?  Here  in  this  world,  it  plain- 
ly is  not  done  to  a  degree,  that  the  Almighty  Gover- 
nor of  it  can  possibly  think  sufficient.  Perpetually 
we  see  'just  men,  to  whom  ithappeneth  according  to 
the  work  of  the  wicked:  and  wicked  men,  to  whom  it 
happeneth  according  to  the  work  of  the  righteous.'^ 
Amidst   all   this  disorder,  there    are  indeed    evident 

«  Heb.  xiii.  8.  /  Mai.  iii.  18.  g  Eccl.  viii.  14. 


!02  LECTURE    XII. 

marks  of  a  Providence;  but  of  a  Providence,  that 
gives  only  specimens  and  earnests  of  its  justice  at 
present;  reserving  the  full  vindication  and  display  of 
itself  for  that  future  state,  in  which  our  souls,  being 
naturally  immortal,  arc  evidently  destined  to  exist; 
and  where  all  men  shall  receive  according  to  their 
works.  This  is  the  great  end,  that  God  had  in  his 
view,  when  he  created  us:  and  it  is  the  principal 
point,  that  we  should  have  in  our  own  view,  through 
the  whole  of  our  lives. 

Tiiore  or  less  all  mankind,  even  in  their  darkest 
ignorance,  have  always  had  some  persuasion  of  a  fu- 
ture recompence;  which  howevei'  mixed  with  errors, 
yet  being  thus  universal  and  lasting,  must  have  been 
grounded  in  nature  and  truth.  And  the  wiser  and 
better  any  persons  were,  amongst  the  heathens,  the 
stronger  and  more  rational  belief  they  had  of  this 
doctrine:  which  yd  was  not  owing  merely  to  their 
wishes  and  their  hopos:  for  the  worst  sinners,  that 
were  the  ftirthest  from  desiring  a  just  reward  hereaf- 
ter, feared  it,  whether  they  would  or  not.  Thus  we 
find  it  recorded  of  a  very  wicked  heathen,  th.at  when 
'  Paul  reasoned  of  righteousness,  and  temperance, 
and  judgement  to  come,  Felix  trembled.''' 

But  still,  while  the  evidence  of  tliis  great  ai'ticle 
consisted  wholly  in  mere  human  reasonings,  about  a 
matter  that  was  out  of  sight:  bad  persons,  though  they 
could  not  help  at  some  time  believing  enough  to 
fright  tliem;  yet  made. a  shift  at  others  to  disbelieve 
enough  to  make  them  tolerably  easy  in  doing  wrong: 
and  good  persons,  though  they  miglit  have  hope  suf- 
ficient to  influence  them  in  common  cases;  yet  often 
had  not  sufficient  to  support  them  under  harder  du- 
ties, and  heavier  afiiictions,  than  ordinary.  Even  the 
obscurer  confirmations  of  this  doctrine  in  the  Old 
Testament  therefore  were  a  great  benefit  to  those 
who  partook  of  them:  and  as  they  had  no  right  to  any 
such  assurances  of  it,  they  had  no  cause  to  complain 

h  Acts  x\iv.  25. 


LECTURE    XII.  103 

that  they  were  not  clearer.  But  we  have  infinite 
cause  to  be  thankful,  who  are  favoured  in  the  Gospel 
with  the  fullest  and  strongest  attestation  to  (liis  most 
interesting  of  all  our  concerns.  Christians,  unless 
they  renounce  their  Christianity,  cannot  disbelieve  a 
future  judgment.  The  only  dithculty  is,  to  be  influ- 
enced by  our  belief,  as  we  ought.  And  in  that  also 
the  Scripture  hath  given  us  the  best  help,  which  is 
possible  to  be  given;  by  its  affecting  accounts  of  the 
several  particulars  that  relate  to  this  a'wful  transac- 
tion: the  persons  on  whom,  the  person  by  whom,  the 
time  when,  the  things  for  which,  and  the  manner  in 
which,  the  final  sentence  of  happiness  or  misery  is  to 
be  pronounced.  These  points  tlierefore  I  shall  now 
endeavour  to  place  before  you  distinctly.     And, 

1.  The  persons  on  whom,  are,  'the  quick,'  that  is 
the  living,  'and  the  dead.'  All  that  have  died  be- 
fore, in  every  age  of  the  world,  shall  be  restored  to 
life:  and  all  that  remain  alive,  shall  be  joined  with 
them  to  receive  their  doom;  nor  shall  any  exception 
be  made.  For  we  arc  expressly  assured,  that  the 
'  dead,  small  and  great,  shall  stand  before  God. '  The 
very  highest  therefore  shall  not  esc;ipe  by  their  pow- 
er, the  richest  by  their  wealth,  the  wisest  by  their 
abilities  or  artfulness:  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  shall 
the  meanest  wretch  be  looked  on,  as  too  inconsidera- 
ble for  God's  notice;  or  the  most  ignorant  be  exemp- 
ted from  answering  for  the  care  which  he  hath  ta- 
ken, to  get  the  knowledge,  that  he  might,  and  to  use 
the  knowledge,  that  he  had,  of  his  duly.  Whatever 
our  station  be,  we  are  bound  alike  to  behave  in  it,  as 
well  as  we  can:  and  how  far  we  have  done  so,  and 
how  far  we  have  failed  of  it,  is  the  one  inquiry  that 
our  Judge  will  make.  Other  distinctions,  how  con- 
siderable soever  they  appear  in  our  eyes,  to  him  are 
as  nothing.  All  creatures  are  equally  beneath  his 
infinite  majesty;  but  none  are  either  beneath  or  above 
his  inspection  now,  or  his  sentence  hereafter.     Here 

t  Rev.  xx.  12. 


104  LECTURE  XII. 

then  we  are  put,  every  one  of  us,  on  a  fair  trial, 
without  any  disadvantage  or  inequality  whatever. 
Both  the  most  honourable,  and  the  most  contemptible 
persons,  as  to  worldly  circumstances,  may  be  either 
the  happiest  or  the  most  miserable  in  the  next  life, 
just  as  they  shall  choose.  Let  those  of  high  degree 
therefore  be  humble,  those  of  low  be  content,  and  all 
be  watchful  over  themselves. 

2.  The  person  by  whom  the  sentence  shall  be 
passed,  is  Jesus  Christ.  '  For  the  Father  himself 
judgeth  no  man;  but  hath  committed  all  judgment  to 
the  Son,  and  given  him  authority  to  execute  it,  be- 
cause he  is  the  Son  of  Man -j'*^  because  he  is  the  per- 
son described  by  that  name  in  the  prophet  Daniel, 
before  whom  the  'judgment  was  to  be  set,  and  the 
books  opened;'*  who  also  is  no  less  peculiarly  quali- 
fied, than  expressly  appointed  for  it;  since  in  him  di- 
vine perfection  is  joined  with  experience  of  human 
infirmity.  So  that  being  judged  by  one,  who  '  was 
in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without 
Sin;'''  we  may  be  sure,  that  every  due  allowance  will 
be  made  to  our  natural  weakness,  and  no  undue  one 
to  our  wilful  wickedness.  Unless  therefore  we  re- 
pent and  amend.  He,  that  came  the  first  time  to  save 
us,  will  come  the  second  to  condemn  us;  and  the 
meek  and  merciful  Jesus  appear  clothed  with  such 
terror,  that  we  shall  '  say  to  the  mountains,  and  to 
the  rocks,  fall  on  us,  and  hide  us  from  the  face  of  him 
that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the 
Lamb:  for  the  great  day  of  his  wrath  is  come,  and 
who  shall  be  able  to  stand?'' 

3.  The  time  when  these  things  shall  be,  himself  in- 
forms us, 'it  is  not  for  us  to  know;' being  known  to  the 
Father  alone, 'and  put  in  his  own  power.'  *=  But  still, 
what  there  is  need  we  should  be  told  concerning  it, 
the  Scripture  hath  revealed;  that  it  should  come  un- 
expectedly, and  that  it  shall  come  soon.  The  gener- 
al judgment  may  come,  when  we   least  think  of  it. 

a  John  V.  22,  27.  b  Dan.  vii.  10,  13.  •  Heb.  iv.  15. 

d  Kev.  vi.  16,  17.  e  Acts  i.  7. 


LECTURE    XII.  105 

But  however  distant  it  may  possibly  be,  in  itself,  yet  to 
every  one  of  us,  it  is  undoubtedly,  in  effect,  very  near, 
and  even  at  the  door.  For  it  '  is  appointed  unto  men 
once  to  die,  and  after  this,  the  judgment.''' A  few- 
years,  it  may  be  a  few  days,  will  bring  us  to  our  end 
here;  and  in  whatever  state  death  finds  us, in  the  same 
will  the  last  judgment  find  us,  also,  'For  there  is  no  de- 
vice, nor  wisdom  in  the  grave;' ''  '  but  "where  the  tree 
falleth,  there  sliall  it  be.'  "=  '  Take  heed,  therefore,  to 
yourselves,  lest  your  hearts  be  overcharged,'  either 
with  the  pleasures  and  amusements,  or  the  cares  and 
labors  of  this  life;  '  and  so  that  day  come  upon  you 
unawares;  for  as  a  snare  shall  it  come  on  all  them, 
that  dwell  on  the  whole  earth.'  "^  '  The  evil  servant 
that  shall  say  in  his  heart,  my  Lord  dclayeth  his  com- 
ing; and  shall  begin  to  smite  his  fellow-servants,  and 
to  eat  and  drink  with  the  drunken;  the  Lord  of  that 
servant  shall  come,  in  a  day  that  he  looketh  not  for 
him,  and  in  an  hour  that  he  is  not  aware  of;  there 
shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth.'*  'Watch  ye, 
therefore,  and  be  ready;  blessed  is  that  servant,  w^hom 
his  Lord,  when  he  cometh,  shall  find  so  doing.'-'' 

4.  The  things,  for  which  we  shall  be  judged,  are 
our  voluntary  deeds,  words,  and  thoughts.  'For  we 
must  all  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ, 
(hat  every  one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  his 
body.'^  Now,  what  we  say,  and  what  we  think,  de- 
signedly, is  as  truly  part  of  our  doings,  as  what  we 
act.  Our  discourse  may  be  of  as  much  service  or 
harm  to  others;  and  even  our  inward  imaginations, 
may  as  much  prove  us  to  be  good,  or  bad  in  ourselves, 
and  contribute  to  make  us  yet  better  or  worse.  Of- 
ten, indeed,  we  cannot  help  wicked  fancies  coming 
into  our  minds;  and  that  alone  will  never  be  imputed 
to  us  as  a  sin.  But  we  can  help  inviting,  indulging, 
and  delighting  in  them;  and  if  we  do  not,  it  is  just, 
that  we  should  account  for  our  fault.  And  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  fit  and  reasonable,  that  every  good 

a  Heb.  ix.ii?.      iEcc.ix,  10.       eEccl.  xl.  3.       d  Luke  xxi.  34,35. 
e  Matt.  sxiv,48— 51.  /  Ibid.  42,  44,  46.    g^  2  Cor.  v. 10- 

L 


106  LECTURE    XU. 

person  should  be  rewarded,  not  onl}'  for  the  religious 
and  worthy  actions  that  he  hath  performed;  but  for 
every  good  word,  that  hath  proceeded  from  his  good 
heart;  for  his  pious  and  virtuous  purposes  and  affec- 
tions. For  God  sees  the  one,  just  as  clearly  as  the 
other:  'there  is  no  creature,  that  is  not  manifest  in 
his  sight;  but  all  things  are  naked  and  opened  unto 
the  eyes  of  him,  with  whom  we  have  to  do.' "  And 
certainly  what  he  sees,  and  sees  to  be  proper  for  his 
notice,  he  will  notfail  to  take  suitable  notice  of  it. — 
The  Scripture,  therefore,  assures  us,  with  the  utmost 
reason,  not  only,  that  'by  our  words  we  shall  be  jus- 
tified, and  by  our  words  condemned;'  giving  account 
for  the  very  idlest  and  slightest  of  them,  either  with 
grief  or  joy,  according  as  its  tendency  was  right  or 
wrong:*  but,  also,  that  '  God  shall  judge  the  secrets 
of  men,  by  Jesus  Christ:' '  '  that  there  is  nothing  co- 
vered, that  shall  not  be  revealed;  and  hid,  that  shall 
not  be  known.'  '^  '  For  God  shall  bring  every  work  in- 
to judgment,  and  every  secret  thing;  whether  it  be 
good,  or  whether  it  be  evil.'  * 

Therefore,  with  respect  to  other  persons,  let  us  be 
charitable,  and  'judge  nothing,  needlessly,  before 
the  time;  until  the  Lord  come,  who  will  bring  to  light 
the  hidden  things  of  darkness,  and  make  manifest 
the  counsels  of  all  hearts.'-^  And,  with  respect  to 
ourselves,  let  us  be  easy  under  human  censures,  if  we 
have  given  no  occasion  for  them;  for  in  that  case,  'it 
is  a  small  thing  to  be  judged  of  man's  judgment:'^ 
but  let  us  carefully  prepare  for  the  divine  sentence, 
by  'perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God ;' '-  and  af- 
ter all  our  care,  let  us  be  thoroughly  humble:  for 
though  'we  know  nothing  of  ourselves,  yet  we  are 
not  hereby  justified,'  if  it  be  through  partiality,  or 
forgetfulness,  as  possibly  it  may;  'but  he  thatjudg- 
eth  us,  is  the  liOrd.'  * 

5.  As  to  the  manner  of  the  judgment,  it  will  be 
with  the  greatest  solemnity  and  awfulness,  and  with 

a  Heb.  iv.  13.  h  Matt,  xii.  36,  37.  c  Rom.  ii.  16.  d  Mat  t.x.26. 

e  Eccl. xii.  14.     /ICor.  iv,  5.      g-  Ibid:  3       A2Cor.  vii.  1.      ilCor.iv.  4. 


LECTURE  XII.  ld7 

the  greatest  justice  and  equity.  'The  Lord  himself 
shall  descend  from  Heaven,'  "  '  with  his  mighty  an- 
gels, in  flaming  fire ;'  *  'and  the  trumpet  shall  sound,' ' 
and  'all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  his  voice, 
and  come  forth.'  ''■  '  Then  shall  he  sit  upon  the  throne 
of  his  glory,'*  'and  the  books  shall  be  opened,  and 
they  shall  be  judged  out  of  those  things,  which  are 
written  in  the  books,  according  to  their  works.' -^  As 
'  many  as  have  sinned  without  a  revealed  law,  shall 
perish  without  a  revealed  law:  and  as  many  as  have 
sinned  in  the  law,'  whether  Jewish  or  Christian, 
'  shall  be  judged  by  the  law. '^  '  Unto  whomsoever 
much  is  given,  of  him  shall  much  be  required :  and  to 
whom  much  is  committed,  of  him  will  the  more  be 
asked.''"  'He  which  hath  sowed  sparingly,  shall 
reap,  also,  sparingly;  and  he  which  hath  sowed 
bountifully,  shall  reap,  also,  bountifully.' ^  'Whatso- 
ever a  man  hath  sowed,  that  shall  he  also  reap.'-' 

'What  manner  of  persons  ought  we  to  be,  then, 
in  all  holy  conversation  and  godliness;  looking  for, 
and  hastening  unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God; 
wherein  the  Heavens,  being  on  fire,  shall  be  dissolv- 
ed, and  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat? 
Nevertheless,  we,  according  to  his  promise,  look  for 
new  Heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness.  Wherefore,  beloved,  seeing  that  we 
look  for  such  things,  be  diligent,  that  ye  may  be 
found  of  him  in  peace,  without  spot,  and  blameless: 
grow  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ:  to  him  be  glory,  both  now  and 
forever.     Amen.' '' 

a  1  Thess.  iv.  16.       4  2  Thess.  i.  7,  8.       e  1  Cor.  xv.  52.         rf  John  v.  28,  29- 
e  Matt.  XXV.  31.        /  Rev.  xx.  12.  ^  Rom.  ii.  12.  A  Luke  xii.  48. 

i  2  Cor.  ix.  6.  j  Gal.  vi.  7.  i  2  Pet.  iii.  11—14,  18. 


108  LECTURE  xin., 

LECTURE   XIII. 

CREED. 

Article  VIII.     /  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  former  Articles  having  expressed  the  belief  of 
Christians,  concerning  the  two  first  persons  of  the  sa- 
cred  trinity,  the  Father  and  the  Son;  our  Creed  pro- 
ceeds in  this  to  the  third  object  of  our  baptismal 
faith,  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  to  explain  it  properly, 
there  will  be  need  to  speak,  first,  of  his  nature;  sec- 
ondly, of  his  peculiar  office  in  the  work  of  our  re- 
demption; thirdly,  of  the  duties  owing  to  him;  fourth- 
ly, of  the  sins,  which  we  are  liable  to  commit  against 
him. 

1.  Of  the  nature  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  Spirit.  For 
Ghost,  in  the  ancient  use  of  our  language,  denoted 
the  same  thing,  which  Spirit  doth  now,  a  substance 
different  from  body  or  matter.  Indeed,  we  still  use 
it,  in  expressing  the  departure  of  the  spirit  from  the 
body,  which  we  call'  giving  up  the  ghost:'  and  io 
speaking  of  supposed  apparitions  of  the  spirits  of  per- 
sons after  their  decease.  Hence,  also,  the  Catechism 
mentions  '  ghostly  dangers;'  and  the  communion  ser- 
vice 'ghostly  counsels;'  meaning  such  dangers,  and 
such  counsels,  as  relate  to  our  spiritual  part. 

In  like  manner,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  Holy  Spirit: 
concerning  whose  nature,  we  can  know,  as  I  told  you- 
before,  concerning  that  of  the  Son,  only  what  results 
from  the  discoveries  made  to  us  in  Scripture.  And 
these,  though  they  enlighten  us  but  in  part,  are  both 
credible  and  sufficient.  For  it  is  no  objection  against 
believing  what  God  hath  revealed,  in  relation  to  any 
subjects,  that  many  questions  may  be  asked  about 
what  he  hath  not  revealed,  to  which  we  can  give  no 
answer.  And  he  will  never  expect  us,  in  this  or  any 
matter,  to  apprehend  more,  than  he  hath  afforded  us 


LECTURE    XIII.  109 

the  means  of  apprehending.  Now,  the  chief  things 
revealed  in  the  present  case,  are  the  following. 

The  Holy  Ghost  is  not  merely  an  attribute  or  pow- 
er of  the  Father,  but  hath  a  real  subsistence,  distinct 
both  from  the  Father  and  the  Son.  For  the  New  Tes- 
tament expressly  and  repeatedly  uses  the  word  he, 
concerning  him:'"  which  is  never  used  in  that  man- 
ner of  a  mere  attribute  or  power.  It  ascribes  to  him 
will  and  understanding:*  it  speaks  of  him  as  being 
sent  by  the  Father,  coming  and  acting  on  various  oc- 
casions, relative  both  to  the  Son  and  to  others;  nay, 
as  shewing  himself  in  a  bodily  shape,  like  a  dove.'  "^ 

Further:  the  Holy  Ghost  is,  truly  and  strictly 
speaking,  God.  For  the  language  of  Scripture  con- 
cerning him  is  such,  as  cannot  belong  to  any  created 
being.  He  is  there  called,*  the  eternal  Spirit,'"^  'the 
Lord,'®  is  said  to  '  quicken  or  givelife;'-^  to  be  every 
where  present  with  all  good  christians ;5"  '  to  search 
all  things,  yea,  the  deep  things  of  God,  even  as  the 
things  of  a  man  are  known  by  his  own  spirit,  which 
is  in  him.'  '^  Christ,  being  conceived  by  him,  became 
'  the  Son  of  God.''  Christians,  by  his  dwelling  in 
them,  become  '  the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  J  or 
as  another  place  expresses  it,  '  the  temples  of  God.'  ^ 
Ananias,  by  lying,  to  him,  '  lied  not  unto  men,  but 
unto  God.' '  He  is  said  to  distribute  spiritual  and  mi- 
raculous gifts  '  dividing  to  every  man  severally,  as  he 
will.'™  'And  as  the  disciples  ministered  to  the  Lord, 
and  fasted,  the  Holy  Ghost  said,  separate  me  Barna- 
bas and  Saul,  for  the  work  whereunto  I  have  called 
them.'"  He  is  represented  by  our  Saviour,  as  able 
fully  to  supply  the  want  of  his  personal  presence  with 
the  Apostles.' "  And  lastly,  he  is  joined  with  the  Fa- 
ther and  the  Son,  on  equal  terms,  both  in  the  form  of 
baptism,  where  his  name  and  theirs  are  used  alike  j^ 

a  John  xiv.  26.  xv.  26.  xvi.  13.  6  Rom.  viii.  27.  Heb.  ii.  4.  Comp.  1  Cor. 
lii.  11.  cLukciii.  22.  d  Heb.  ix.  14.  e  2  Cor:  iii:  17.  /  1  Pet.  iii;  18. 
giohn  xiv.  16, 17.         h  1  Cor.  ii.  10,  11.  t  Luke  i.jSo.  j  1  Cor.  vi.  19. 

k  1  Cor.  iii.  16,  17.         I  Acts  v.  3,4.  ml  Cor.  xli.  11:      n  Acts  xiii.  2.. 

a  John  xvi.  7.  p  Matt,  xxviii.  19. 

L2 


110  LECTURE  Xin. 

and  in  the  solemn  form  of  blessing,  where  '  the  fellow- 
ship  of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  is  placed  on  a  level  with  the 
^  love  of  God,  and  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.' « 

These,  and  many  other  Scripture  expressions,  are 
surely  such,  as  cannot  be  used  of  any  creature;  but 
prove  the  Spirit,  as  others,  already  mentioned  to  you, 
prove  the  Son  to  partake  of  the  same  authority  and 
perfections,  and,  therefore,  the  same  nature,  with  the 
Father.  Yet  we  know,  that  though  in  Holy  Writ, 
men  and  angels  are,  sometimes  on  account  of  their 
extensive  power,  sometimes  as  representatives  of  the 
Deity,  called  gods;  yet,  in  literal  propriety  of  speech, 
there  is  but  one  God,  and  not  either  three  Supreme 
Beings,  or  a  superior  jind  inferior  object  of  adora- 
tion. 'Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord.'  * 
'  Is  there  a  God  besides  me?  yea,  there  is  no  God; 
I  know  not  any.' *=  'Before  me  was  no  God  formed; 
neither  shall  there  be  after  me.'  <^  'I  am  the  Lord, — 
and  my  glory  will  I  not  give  to  another.'  *  '  Thou 
shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt 
thou  serve.' -^  Since,  then,  there  is  not  a  plurality  of 
gods;  and  yet  the  Son  and  Spirit  are  each  of  them 
God,  no  less  than  the  Father:  it  plainly  follows,  that 
they  are,  in  a  manner  by  us  inconceivable,  so  united 
to  him,  that  'these  three  are  one;'  ^  but  still,  in  a 
manner  equally  inconceivable,  so  distinguished  from 
him,  that  no  one  of  them  is  the  other. 

Now,  certainly,  in  general,  it  is  no  contradiction, 
that  things  should  be  in  one  respect  the  same,  and  in 
another  different.  But  the  particular  and  explicit 
notion  of  this  union  and  this  distinction,  the  word  of 
God  hath  not  given  us.  Whether  we  are  capable  of 
apprehending  it,  we  know  not:  and,  therefore,  it  is  no 
wonder,  in  the  least,  that  we  are  incapable  of  form- 
ing one  to  ourselves.  For  indeed  we  are  incapable 
of  forming  clear  notions  concerning  thousands  of  oth- 
er things,  which  are   unspeakably  less  beyond  our 

«  2  Cor.  xiii.  14.  ADeut.  vi.  4.  c  Isa.  Ixiv.  8.  i  Isa.  xliii,  10. 

•  Isa.  xlii.  8)  /Matt,  iv,  10,  ^1   John  v,  7, 


LECTURE    XIII.  Ill 

reach.  All  that  we  can  do,  therefore,  is,  to  use  those 
expressions  in  relation  to  it,  which  either  Scripture 
furnishes,  or  experience  has  found  useful  to  guard 
against  false  apprehensions:  for  with  very  imperfect 
ones,  we  must  be  content.  Thus,  in  speaking  of  the 
difference  of  the  Son  and  Spirit  from  the  Father,  and 
from  each  other,  we  say,  with  our  Bible,  that  the  Son 
is  begotten,  and  the  Spirit  proceeds,  without  pretend- 
ing to  know  any  further,  what  these  two  words  mean, 
than  that  each  denotes  something  different  from  the 
other:  and  both  something  ditferent  from  creation 
out  of  nothing.  And  this  distinction  giving  occasion 
to  Scripture  to  speak  of  them  in  son>ewhat  the  same 
manner,  as  of  different  persons  amongst  men;  we  call 
them  the  three  persons  of  the  trinity:  not  at  all  in- 
tending by  it  to  say,  that  the  word,  person,  suits  them 
in  every  respect,  thai  it  suits  us:  but  only  to  acknow- 
ledge, that,  as  we  find  them  thus  spoken  of,  we  doubt 
not  but  there  is  some  sufficient  ground  for  it.  And 
as  we  find  further,  that  in  point  of  rank,  the  person 
of  the  Father  is  represented  as  supreme,  the  Son  as 
subordinate  to  him,  the  Holy  Spirit  to  both;  and  in 
point  of  relation  to  us,  creation  is  ascribed  peculiar- 
ly to  the  first,  redemption  to  the  second,  sanctificafion 
to  the  third;  and  yet,  in  some  sense,  each  of  these  things 
to  each:  we  imitate  the  whole  of  this,  likewise. 
Still  we  are  very  sensible  at  the  same  time,  that  ma- 
ny more  doubts  and  difficulties  may  be  raised,  almost 
about  every  part  of  the  doctrine,  than  God,  in  his  un- 
searchable wisdom,  has  given  us  light  enough  to  solve. 
But  we  apprehend  it  is  our  duty,  to  believe  with  hu- 
mility and  simplicity,  what  the  Scripture  hath  taught 
us;  and  to  be  contentedly  ignorant  of  what  it  doth 
not  teach  us;  without  indulging  speculations  and 
conjectures,  which  will  only  perplex  the  subject 
more,  instead  of  clearing  it.  And  surely  it  is  our  du- 
ty, also,  to  interpret  with  candor,  and  use  with  pru- 
dent moderation,  whatever  well-meant  phrases  the 
Church  of  Christ,  especially  in  its  earliest  days,  hath 
applied  to   this  subject;  to  think  on  matters,  which 


112  LECTURE   Xlir. 

are  both  so  mysterious  in  their  nature,  and  so  hard  to 
be  expressed,  with  great  charity  of  other  persons: 
and  for  ourselves,  to  keep  close  with  great  care  to  so 
much  as  is  plain  and  practical.  In  order  to  this,  I 
now  proceed  to  lay  before  you, 

II.  The  peculiar  office  of  the  Spirit,  in  the  work  of 
our  redemption;  on  account  of  which,  he  is  called,  in 
our  Catechism, '  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  sanctifieth 
us,  and  all  the  elect*  people  of  God.'  For  probably 
he  is  called  the  Holy  Spirit  so  frequently  in  Scrip- 
ture, and  'the  spirit  of  holiness,'  once,"'  not  merely 
as  being  perfectly  holy  in  himself,  which  the  father 
and  the  son  are  also,  but  as  being  the  cause  of  holi- 
ness in  believers;  who  are  elected  by  God,  to  eternal 
life,  on  foreseeing  that  their  faith  will  produce  obe- 
dience. 

To  be  holy  is  to  be  pure  from  defilement;  but  par- 
ticularly, in  this  case,  from  the  defilement  of  iniquity; 
and  being  sanctified  is  being  made  holy:  to  which 
blessed  change  in  sinful  man,  the  spirit  of  God,  we 
are  taught,  contributes  many  ways. 

In  baptism  we  are  '  born  again  of  water  and  of  the 
spirit;'*  restored  by  him  to  the  state  of  God's  chil- 
dren, and  endued  with  the  principles  of  a  new,  that 
is,  the  christian  life.  As  we  grow  up,  it  is  through 
him,  that  our  understandings  are  enlightened  by  the 
knowledge  of  God"s  will.  He  directed  the  ancient 
prophets  in  what  they  preached  and  wrote.  For 
'holy  men  of  old  time  spake,  as  they  were  moved  by 
the  Holy  Ghost :''^  which  more  especially  'testified 
beforehand  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  the  glories 
that  should  follow."'^  Then  afterwards,  when  our  sa- 
viour became  man,  the  Holy  Ghost  was  upon  him, 
and  accompanied  him  through  the  whole  of  his  minis- 
tration:* and  after  his  ascension  was  communicated 
more  fully  than  before  to  his  apostles;  to '  teach  them 

*NoTB. — Elect  is  omitted  in  tlie  American  Prayer  Book — American  Edition. 
aRom.  i.  4.         i  John  iii.  3,  5.         c2Pet.  i.  21,         d  1  Pet.  i.  11. 
e  Matt.  ii.  16.        Luke  iii.  22,  iv.  1.     Acts  i.  2,  x.  38.       e  Matt,  iii.  16. 
Luke  iii.  22, 4, 1 .  Acts  1 , 2,  x.  3 1 


LECTURE  XIII. 


113 


all  things'  needful,  'and  bring  to  their  remembrance 
whatever  he  had  said  to  them:'"  so  that  in  all  their 
discourses  for  the  instruction  of  mankind,' it  was  not 
so'  much  'they  who  spoke,  as  the  spirit  of  the  Father 
that  spoke  in  them.'  *  Nor  can  we  doubt,  but  he  affor- 
ded them  equal  assistance  at  least  in  what  they  wrote 
for  the  use  of  all  future  ages.  The  same  spirit  was 
also  their  comforter  under  every  suffering:  and  last- 
ly bore  witness  to  the  truth  of  their  doctrine  and  our 
faith,  by  a  multitude  of  '  signs  and  wonders  and  su- 
pernatural gifts:''^  by  which  means,  and  the  ministry 
of  their  successors,  whom  likewise  the  'Holy  Ghost 
made  overseers  over  Christ's  flock,'''  the  light  of  his 
gospel  tilled  the  world,  and  now  shines  upon  us. 

Nor  is  it  outwardly  alone,  that  he  reveals  and  con- 
firms to  us  divine  truths:  but  as  the  blessed  Jesus  pro- 
mised, that 'he  should  dwell  in  his  disciples,  and 
abide  with  them  for  ever;'  *  so,  by  his  inward  oper- 
ations, the  credibility  of  which  I  shall,  God  willing, 
prove  to  you  in  its  proper  place,  'he  opens  our 
hearts'-^  to  receive  the  word  of  God,  influences  our 
affections  to  delight  in  it,  and  excites  our  wills  to  act 
conformably  to  it:  for  which  reasons  good  persons  are 
said  to  be  'led  by  the  spirit;'-  and  all  christian  gra- 
ces to  be  'the  fruits  of  the  spirit."'  With  the  wicked 
'he  strives,''  till  they  obstinately  harden  themselves, 
and  then  forsakes  them.  But  those,  who  yield  to 
his  motions,  he  '  renews,' -^^  and  'strengthens  with 
might  in  the  inner  man;''  'helps  their  infirmities,'  and 
both  directs  and  animates  their  prayers,  thus  mak- 
ing, as  it  were,  intercession'  within  them.  By  this 
'one  spirit,'  being  in  all  christians,  they  are  united 
into 'one  body,™  and  made  to  love  each  other.  'By 
the  Holy  Ghost,'  also,  'the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad 
in  our  hearts,'"  teaching  us  to  look  upon  him,  not  as 

a  Joliii  xiv.  26.  6  Matt.  x.  20,  c  Heh.  ii.  4. 

d  Acts  XX.  28.  e  John  xiv.  16.  /  Acts  xvi.  14. 

g  Rom.  viii.  14.  A  Gal.  v.  22.    i  Gen.  vi.  3-  j  Tit.  iii.  5. 

k  Eph.iii.  16.  I  Rom.  viii.  26,  27.  m  Epli.  iv.  4. 

n  Rom,  V,  5 


114  LECTURE  XIII. 

an  austere  master,  but  a  kind  parent:  or,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  St.  Paul,  to  cry  Abba,  Father."  And  thus 
'  the  spirit  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,'  joins  with 
our  consciences  to  complete  the  evidence,  '  that  we 
are  the  sons  of  God:*  from  whence  arises  that  'joy 
in  the  Holy  Ghost:*^  which  different  persons  have  in 
very  different  degrees,  and  therefore  no  one  should 
despond,  because  he  feels  but  little,  or  at  times  per- 
haps nothing,  of  it,  provided  he  truly  honors  and 
serves  God.  But  to  some  persons,  on  some  occasions, 
the  heavenly  comforter  vouclisafes,  both  strong  assu- 
rances of  their  good  state;  (hereby  know  we,  that 
God  abidetb  in  us,  by  the  spirit  which  he  hath  given 
us;''  )  and  such  lively  consolations  from  it,  as  amount 
to  a  pledge  and  foretaste  of  happiness  to  come.  Ac- 
cordingly they  are  said  to  be  'sealed  with  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  promise,  which  is  the  earnest  of  their  inher- 
itance.* 

But  to  prevent  wicked  persons  of  enthusiastic  tem- 
pers from  mistaking,  as  they  often  have  done,  their 
own  groundless  contiuence  for  the  inward  testimony 
of  the  divine  spirit,  they  should  be  carefully  remind- 
ed, that '  by  our  fruits  we  are  known,' •^  and  must 
know  ourselves,^  that  '  the  fruit  of  the  spirit  is  in  all 
righteousness  and  truth,"' and  only  'good  men  are 
full  of  the  Holy  Ghost.''  'For  into  a  malicious  soul 
he  will  not  enter;  nor  dwell  in  the  body  that  is  sub- 
ject unto  sin.  The  Holy  Spirit  of  discipline  will  flee 
deceit;  and  remove  from  thoughts  that  are  without 
understanding;  and  will  not  abide,  when  unrighteous- 
ness Cometh  in.--' 

HI.  The  next  thing  proposed  was  to  speak  of  the 
duties  owing  to  the  Holy  Ghost:  which,  besides  the 
general  one  of  honouring  him  suitably  to  his  nature 
as  God,  are  in  particular  to  be  I)aptized  in  his  name, 
as  I  have  already  mentioned;  to  pray  for  his  graces; 
for  God  '  giveth   grace  unto  the  humble,"'^  and  'will 

a  Rom.  viii.  15.  Gal.  iv.  6.         b  Rom.  viii.  16.         c  Rom.  xiv.  17. 

d  1  John  iii.  24.  e  Epb.  i.  13,  14.  /  Matt.  vii.  16. 

^  1  John  ii.  3.     A  Eph.  v.  9.    i  Acts  xi.  24.  y  Wisd.  i.  4,  5.    AJamesiv.B. 


LECTURE    XIII.  115 

give  his  IIolj'  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him:'"  to  be  hear- 
tily thankful  for  all  his  good  motions,  and  conscien- 
tiously to  obey  them  in  every  instance.  By  this  last 
I  do  not  mean,  that  we  should '  believe  every  spirit  ;"• 
follow  every  strong  imagination  of  our  own,  or  pre- 
tence of  light  from  above  in  others:  but  adhere  stead- 
ily to  that  rule  of  life,  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath 
directed  the  writers  of  scripture  to  teach  us,  and  in- 
wardly prompts  and  disposes  us  to  observe.  For  oth- 
er inspiration  than  this,  being  now  become  unneces- 
sary; we  have  reason  to  distrust  it.  But  especially, 
if  we  be  urged,  under  colour  of  such  authority,  to 
break  any  one  standing  precept  of  the  gospel,  or  add 
to,  or  take  away  from,  any  single  article  of  our  Creed; 
•  though  an  angel  from  Heaven'''  were  to  require  it, 
we  are  not  to  yield  but  keep  close  to  the  '  faith  and 
holy  commandment,  which  were  once  delivered  to 
the  saints,'*^  and  shall  never  be  altered. 

These  then  are  our  duties  to  the  ever-blessed  Spirit. 
These  are  likewise  mentioned  in  scripture. 

IV.  Sins  against  him.  And  one  of  these,  not  all, 
as  melancholy  persons  are  apt  to  imagine,  but  one 
alone,  is  said  by  our  Saviour  to  be  unpardonable: 
which  is'  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost.'*  Now 
that  means  only  speaking  reproachful  words,  delib- 
erately and  maliciously,  against  the  miracles  done  by 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  the  supernatural 
gifts  proceeding  from  him,  and  the  only  persons,  to 
whom  Christ  declared,  that  this  should  not  be  forgiv- 
en, were  those,  who  had  the  testimony  of  their  own 
senses  for  the  reality  of  these  miracles  and  gifts;  and 
notwithstanding  the  fullest  evidence  of  their  coming 
from  the  Spirit  of  God,  obstinately  persisted  in  revil- 
ing Ihem,  and  even  ascribed  them  to  the  devil.  Now 
here  is  a  plain  reason,  why  this  sin,  under  these  cir- 
cumstances, must  be  unpardonable.  The  persons 
guilty   of  it,  had   stood   out  against  all   the  means, 

a  Luke  xi.  13.  b  1  John  iv.  1.  e  Gal.i.  8. 

d  Z  Pet.  ii.  21.  Jude  ver.  3.  e  Matt.  zii.  31.     Mark  iii.  28,  29. 

Luke  zii.  10. 


J  JO  LECTURE    XIII. 

which  heaven  had  provided  for  the  conviction  and 
conversion  of  mankind;  none  more  powerful  remain- 
ed to  brine?  them  to  repentance;  and  as  they  cou  d 
not  be  for'^iven  without  repenting,  there  was  plamly 
no  way  left  for  their  recovery. 

Buttlienitis  equally    plain,    that   persons,    who 
never  were  witnesses  to  any  such  miraculous  powers; 
but  live  as  we  do,  many  ages  after  they  are   ceased, 
cannot  in    this    respect,  sin   to  the   same    degree  ot 
suilt,  since  it  is  not  against  the  same  degree  of  evi- 
dence: and  that  as  they,  who  were  guilty  of  it  orig- 
inally, were  unbelievers  in  Christ,  so  indeed,  no  be- 
liever in  him,  continuing  such,  can  possibly    design, 
whilst  his  thoughts    and  words  are  in  his  own  com- 
mand, to  speak  evil  of  the  Holy  Ghost  or  his  mighty 
works.     Nor  therefore  can  he  come  under  Ihe   con- 
demnation of  those,  whom    the    epistle   to    the^He- 
biws  describes,    as    '  wilfully  doing  despite    to  the 
spirit  of  grace;'  and    of  whom  it  pronounces,  that 
'there  remains  for  them  no  more  sacrifice  for  sin,  but 
a  fearful  expectation  of  judgment.'"    Believers  may 
indeed  rashly  and    thoughtlessly    use   profane  words 
concerning  the  Holy  Ghost:  but  these,   though    un- 
doubtedly great  offences,  and  too  likely  to  make  way 
for  greater  still,  arc  very  far  from  the  unpardonable 
sin      And  as  for  what  some  good    persons  are  often 
terrified  about,  the  wicked  imaginations    that  come 
into  their  minds,    and  expressions  that    come  out  oi 
their  mouths,  at  times,  almost  whe  her  they  will  or 
not;  in  proportion  as   they  are  involuntary,  they  are 
not  crim^inal  in  them,  be   they  in   their  own  nature 
ever  so  bad.     When  therefore  poor  scrupulous  souls 
affright  themselves    about    such  things    as   these;  or 
when  they   who  have  not  sinned    at    all  against  the 
Spirit,  otherwise    than    as  every    iH  action    is  a  sin 
against  him;  or  have  sinned  in  a  quite  different  man- 

nlr  from  the  Jews  in  the  go^P^l' f  "d.^^.^^^J^LnJuh" 
ted  of  their  sin;  when  they  apprehend,  that  notwith- 

o  Heb.  X.  26—29. 


LECTURE    XIV.  IH 

standing  this  they  cannot  be  pardoned;  they  entirely 
mistake  their  own  case:  either  through  ignorance  or 
false  opinions  infused  into  tiiem,  or  excessive  tender- 
ness of  mind:  or  indeed  more  commonly  by  reason  of 
some  bodily  disorder,  though  perhaps  unperceived 
by  themselves,  which  depresses  their  spirits,  and 
clouds  their  understandings,  and  requires  the  help  of 
medicine. 

Another  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  mentioned  in 
scripture,  is  'lying  to  him:''^  which  means  there,  as- 
serting falsehoods,  being  conscious  that  they  are  such, 
to  persons  inspired  by  him  with  the  knowledge  of 
men's  hearts,  as  did  Ananias  and  Sapphira.  But  the 
offences,  which  we  are  in  danger  of  committing 
against  him,  are  'resisting'*  and  'quencliing''  his 
good  motions  and  influences,  and  grieving  him''  by 
corrupt  communication,  evil  thoughts,  or  unholy  ac- 
tions. These  things  therefore  let  us  diligently  avoid: 
or,  if  we  have  fallen  into  them,  sincerely  repent  of 
them:  the  opposite  duties  let  us  conscientiously  prac- 
tice, and  steadfastly  persevere  in  them:  for  so  shall 
we  'commend  ourselves  to  God,  and  to  the  spirit  of 
his  grace;  who  is  able  to  build  us  up,  and  give  us  an 
inheritance  amongst  them  who  are  sanctified;*  to 
which  he  of  his  mercy  bring  us  all,  for  the  sake  of 
our  redeemer  Jesus  Christ.     Amen. 


LECTURE    XIV. 

CREED. 

Article  IX.      The  Holy  Catholic  Church,  the  Commu- 
nion of  Saints* 

The  most   ancient  Creeds  of  all  went  no  further 
than  a  declaration  of  faith  in  the  Father,  Son,  and 

«  Acts  V.  3        6  Acta  vii.  51.        e  1  Tljess.  v.  19-        d  Epb.iv.  29,  30- 
«  Acta  XX.  32- 

M 


118  LECTURE    XIV. 

Holy  Ghost,  in  whose  name  we  are  baptized.  For 
in  this  profession  all  those  other  points  of  doctrine 
were  understood  to  be  implied,  which  it  was  very- 
soon  after  found  most  convenient  to  express  by  addi- 
tional articles.  And  the  first  of  these,  is  that  now  to 
be  explained:  wherein  we  declare  our  belief  in 'the 
Holy  Catholic  Church,  and  the  Communion  of 
Saints. 

The  scripture  word,  translated  '  Church,"  original- 
ly signifies  any  regular  and  orderly  assembly  of  per- 
sons, called  to  meet  on  any  occasion.  But  in  the 
Bible  it  signifies,  almost  alvA'ays,  a  religious  assembly. 
And  when  used  in  its  largest  sense  there  it  compre- 
hends the  whole  number  of  good  persons,  in  every 
age:  all  those  who  from  the  beginning  of  the  world, 
under  whatever  dispensation  of  triie  religion,  have 
believed  in  God,  and  served  him,  according  to  the 
degree  of  their  light;  and  shall  in  the  end  of  it  be 
gathered  together,  and  rewarded  by  him  according 
to  the  degree  of  their  improvement.  This  is  'the 
general  Assembly  and  Church  of  the  first-born  which 
are  written  in  Heaven,'  as  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews calls  it.*^  And  since  the  salvation  of  all  these 
is  owing  to  Jesus  Christ;  the  only  name  by  which 
men  can  be  saved;*  they  are  all,  in  that  respect, 
members  of  the  church  of  Christ,  how  obscure  and 
imperfect  soever  their  knowledge  of  a  Saviour  may 
have  been  But  the  word  is  usually  taken  in  a  nar- 
rower sense.  And  thus  it  is  sometimes  applied  to 
the  Jewish  Nation;  which  in  the  Old  Testament  is 
called,  by  a  phrase  of  just  the  same  meaning,  '  the 
congregation  of  the  Lord,' '=  and  by  St.  Stephen,  'the 
Church  which  was  in  the  wilderness.''^  But  the 
Church  more  especially  meant  here  in  the  Creed,  is 
the  christian;  which,  though  in  some  respects  the 
same  with  the  Jewish,  in  others  differed  from  it; 
which  therefore  our  Saviour,  in  the  gospel,  speaks  of 
himself  as   about  to  build  ;^  and  accordingly,  imme- 

a  Heb.  xii  23.  b  Acts  iv,  12.  c  Num.  xvi.  3,  i^-c.  d  Acts  vii.  38.  e  Matt.  xvi.  18 


LECTURE    XIV.  119 

diatcly  after  his  ascension,  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles, we  find  it  built:  that  is,  we  find  an  assembly  of 
believers  in  Christ,  met  together  at  Jerusalem  under 
their  proper  teachers  and  governors,  to  worsliip  God, 
and  edify  one  another,  in  the  manner  which  he  ap- 
pointed. 

This  was  the  original  Christian  Church;  small  in- 
deed at  first:  but  tlie  Lord,  we  read,  'added  to  the 
Church  daily  such  as  should  be  saved  j**  till  the  gos- 
pel spreading  every  way,  the  number  of  christians, 
which  in  the  beginning  required  no  more  than  one 
congregation,  was  of  necessity  divided  into  several. 
And  henceforward  we  find  many  churches  spoken  of 
at  some  times:  yet  all  these  many  spoken  of  as  one, 
at  others.  For  since  they  all  proceeded  from  the 
same  source;  are  all,  as  the  Apostle  argues,  'one 
body;' and  are  directed  by 'one  spirit;  even  as  they 
are  called  in  one  hope  of  their  calling;'  as  they  'have 
one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  God  and  Fath- 
er of  all:'*  so  are  the}'  in  great  propriety  of  speech, 
though  many,  yet  'one  in  Christ.'  *=  His  church 
therefore  is  the  whole  number  of  those,  who  believe 
on  him.  How  much  soever  they  may  differ  in  some 
opinions  or  practices,  yet  they  are  one  in  all  things 
essential.  IIow  v»  ide  soever  they  may  be  dispersed 
throughout  the  world,  they  shall  at  last  be  '  gather- 
ered  together  unto  him.'*^  "NV'e  can  judge  only  ac- 
cording to  appearances:  and  therefore  to  us  all  those 
must  be  members  of  Christ's  Church,  who  make  a  vis- 
ible profession  of  being  christians.  But  God  sees 
every  secret  thought;  and  in  his  eye,  they  alone  be- 
long trulv  to  his  Church,  who  truly  serve  him  in  'the 
hidden  man  of  the  heart  :'^  that  inward  sincerity, 
which  to  human  eyes  is  invisible.  And  this  invisi- 
ble true  Church  of  Christ,  here  on  earth,  is  militant: 
carrying  on  a  continual  war,  against  the  outward 
temptations   of  the  world  and  the  devil,  and   the  in- 

a  Acts  ii.  47.         b  Epli.  iv.  4,  5,  6.         e  Rom.  xii.  5.         d  2  ThesB.  ii.  1. 
{■  1  Pfit.  iii.  4. 


120  JLECTUKE   XIV. 

ward  struggles  of  every  wrong  inclination:  tiJI  hav- 
ing faithfully  '  fought  the  good  fight;'  and  really 
though  not  perfectly,'  gotten  the  victory  '  in  this  life; 
it  shall,  in  the  next,  become  triumphant,  and  receive 
the  '  Crown  of  Righteousness.'*^ 

Such  then  being  the  Church  of  Christ  in  its  differ- 
ent states:  let  us  proceed  to  consider  the  two  quali- 
ties ascribed  to  it  in  the  Creed:  that  it  is  Holy,  and 
that  it  is  Catholic, 

To  be  holy,  is  to  be  separate  from  all  defilement 
and  impurity,  particularly  of  the  moral  kind.  Thus^ 
God  is  perfectly  holy:  Angels  and  good  men  are  sa 
in  their  different  degrees.  And  because  nothing  un- 
clean or  impure,  in  any  sense,  ought  to  enter  inta 
the  service  of  God,  therefore  whatever  is  set  apart 
from  common  use,  and  dedicated  to  his  worship,  i& 
called  holy  also.  Hence  the  places,  times,  and 
things,  that  are  so  employed,  have  that  name  given 
them.  And  the  persons,  who  attend  on  his  minis- 
try, are  styled  holy  on  account  of  their  outward  re- 
lation to  him,  whether  they  are  really  and  inwardly 
such  as  they  ought,  or  not.  Now  in  outward  profes- 
sion, the  whole  visible  church  of  Christ  is  holy:  sep- 
arated and  distinguished  from  the  rest  of  the  world,, 
by  acknowledging  his  Holy  laws,  and  using  the  means 
of  holiness  which  be  hath  appointed.  But  in  the 
inward  sense,  and  the  only  one  which  will  avail 
hereafter,  they  alone  are  indeed  members  of  his  ho- 
ly church,  who  by  the  help  of  these  means,  do  really 
improve  themselves  in  piety  and  virtue,  becoming 
*  holy  in  all  manner  of  conversation,  as  he  which 
hath  called  them  is  holy:'*  and  such  as  are  truly  so 
here,  shall  be  made  completely  so  hereafter.  For 
'  Christ  loved  the  church,  and  gave  himself  for  it,  that 
he  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it  with  the  washing  of 
water;  and  present  it  to  himself  a  glorious  church, 
not  having  spot  or  wrinkle,  but  that  it  should  be  ho- 
ly, and  without  blemish.' =      Ask  your  hearts  then: 

a  2  Tim.  iv.  7.  8-     Rev.  xv.  2  b  1  Pet.  i.  15  «  Epii.  y.  ^5»  26v2,J 


LECTURE  XIV. 


121 


Are  you  giving  your  best  diligence  to  'cleanse  your- 
selves from  all  lilthinei^s  of  the  flesh  and  spirit,  per- 
fecting holiness  in  the  fear  of  God?'"  'For  without 
it  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord.''' 

The  word  Catholic,  applied  to  the  church  in  our 
Creed,  is  no  where  used  in  scripture:  but  frequently 
in  the  early  christian  writers;  and  it  means  universal, 
extending  to  all  mankind.  The  Jewish  Church  was 
not  universal,  but  particular;  for  it  consisted  only  of 
one  Nation;  and  their  law  permitted  sacrifices  only 
in  one  temple;  nor  could  several  other  precepts  of  it 
be  observed  in  countries  at  any  considerable  distance 
from  thence:  but  the  Christian  consists  'of  every  kin- 
dred, tongue  and  people''^  equally;  and  'offers  unto 
the  name  of  God  in  every  place,  from  the  rising  of 
the  Sun  unto  the  going  down  of  the  same,  incense 
and  a  pure  offering.''^  The  Catholic  church  then  is 
the  universal  Church,  spread  through  the  world;  and 
the  Catholic  faith  is  the  universal  faith:  'that  form  of 
doctrine,'  which  the  Apostles  delivered  *  to  the 
whole  Church,  and  it  received.  What  this  faith 
was,  we  may  learn  from  their  writings,  contained  in 
the  New  Testament;  and,  at  so  great  a  distance  of 
time,  we  can  learn  it  with  certainty  no  where  else. 
Every  church  or  society  of  christians,  that  preserves 
this  Catholic  or  universal  faith,  accompanied  with 
true  charity,  is  a  part  of  the  Catholic  or  universal 
Church;  and  because  the  parts  are  of  the  same  na- 
ture with  the  whole,  it  hath  been  usual  to  call  every 
Church  singly,  which  is  so  qualified,  a  Catholic 
church.  And  in  this  sense,  churches,  that  differ 
widely  in  several  notions  and  customs,  may,  notwith- 
standing, each  of  them  be  truly  Catholic  churches. 
But  the  church  of  Rome,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
corrupted  parts  of  the  Catholic  church,  both  in  faith 
and  love,  hath  presumed  to  call  itself  the  whole  Cath- 
olic church,  the  universal  Church:  which  it  no  more 
is,  than  one  diseased  limb,  though  perhaps  the  larger 

a  2  Oo»  viL  1.     4  Bfeb.  xix.  14     e  «ev,  v.  9-    d  Mai.  I.  11.     #  Eoifi  vi.  17. 

MS 


i^2 


LECTURE    XIVc 


for  being  diseased,  is  the  whole  body  of  a  man.  And 
by  attempting  to  exclude  us,  they  take  the  direct  way 
to  exclude  themselves,  unless  God  impute  their  un- 
charitable way  of  thinking  and  acting,  as  we  hope 
he  will,  to  excusable  ignorance  and  mistake.  The 
Church  of  Engla7id  pretends  not  indeed,  absurdly,  to 
be  the  whole  Catholic  Church;  but  is  undoubtedly  a 
sound  and  excellent  member  of  it.  So  that  we  have 
much  better  ground  to  call  ourselves  Catholics,  than 
they,  were  such  names  worth  disputing  about,  which 
they  are  not:  only  one  would  not  flatter  and  harden^ 
them,  by  giving  them  a  title,  which  they  both  claim 
unjustly,  and  turn  into  an  argument  against  us. 

In  this 'Holy  Catholic  Church'  our  Creed  profess- 
es belief.  But  the  meaning  is  not,  that  we  engage 
to  believe  all  things,  without  exception,  of  which  the 
majority  of  the  church,  at  any  time,  shall  be  persua- 
ded ;  and  much  less,  what  the  rules  of  it,  or,  it  may  be, 
a  small  part  of  them,  who  may  please  to  call  them- 
selves the  church,  shall  at  any  time  require:  for  then 
we  must  believe  many  plain  falsehoods,  uncertain- 
ties without  number,  and  contrary  doctrines,  as  con- 
trary parties  prevail.  Our  Church  doth  indeed  be- 
lieve whatever  the  first  and  best  ages  of  Christianity 
thought  necessary:  whatever  all  the  other  churches 
of  the  present  age  agree  in.  But  this  is  more  than 
we  declare  in  the  Creed.  For  there,  as  believing 
in  God,  means  only  believing  that  there  is  a  God; 
and  believing  in  the  resurrection,  means  only  that 
there  shall  be  a  resurrection:  so  believing  in  the 
Holy  Catholic  Church,  means  only  believing  that  bj 
our  Saviour's  appointment  there  was  founded,  and 
through  his  mercy  shall  ever  continue  a  society  of 
persons,  of  what  nation  or  nations  is  indifferent,  who 
have  faith  in  his  name,  and  obey  his  laws:  not  indeed 
without  being  deformed  and  disfigured,  by  mixtures 
both  of  sin  and  error;  but  still,  without  beingdestroy- 
ed  by  either.  For  as  he  hath  promised,  that  '  the 
dates  of  Hell,'  or  of  the  invisible  world,  that  is,  per- 
secution and    death,  'shall    not  prevail  against  his 


LECTURE    XIV.  123 

Church,"  so  neither  shall  any  other  power.  Noth- 
ing shall  abolish  it:  though  several  things  nnay  ob- 
scure and  corrupt  it.  That  sin  doth,  we  see:  why 
then  may  not  error  too?  It  is  certainly  not  a  worse 
tiling;  nor  is  our  Saviour's  promise  a  greater  security 
against  the  one,  than  the-othcr.  He  requires  us  in- 
deed to  '  hear  the  Church.'  But  in  what  case?  'If 
thy  brother  trespass  against  thee,'  admonish  him  pri- 
vately. This  relates  then,  not  to  disputed  specula- 
tive opinions,  but  to  known  practical  transgressions 
against  our  neighbour.  '  If  he  neglect' private  ad- 
monition '  tell  it  unto  the  Church.'  Not  surely  to 
the  whole  Catholic  Church  all  over  the  world;  that 
is  impossible:  but  the  particular  church  lo  which  you 
both  belong.  Now,  all  sides  allow,  that  every  par- 
ticular church  is  fallible;  and  therefore  to  be  heard 
no  farther,  than  it  appears  to  be  in  the  right.  It  fol- 
lows next:  And  'if  he  neglect  to  hear  the  Church;' 
if  he  will  not  reform  his  injurious  behaviour  on  a 
public  warning, '  let  him  be  unto  thee  as  an  Heathen 
man  and  a  Publican:'^  treat  him  no  longer  with  the 
tenderness  and  regard,  that  is  due  to  a  good  chris- 
tian: but  consider  him  in  the  same  light  with  an  in- 
fidel sinner,  till  he  makes  reparation.  This  rule  there- 
fore by  no  means  proves  the  infallibility,  even  of  the 
universal  Church,  and  much  less  of  the  Romish, 
which  is  far  from  universal;  but  relates  to  a  matter 
entirely  different.  And  it  still  remains  true,  that  pro- 
fessingto  believe  in  the  Holy  CathoHc  Church,  is  on- 
ly acknowledging,  that  Christ  hath  formed  the  whole 
number  of  his  followers,  under  him  their  head,  into 
one  regular  and  sacred  body,  or  society,  to  last  for- 
ever: the  unity  and  holiness  of  which  is  to  be  care- 
fully preserved  by  what  the  latter  part  of  this  article 
specifies. 

'  The  communion  of  Saints.'  The  word  Saints,  is 
of  the  same  meaning  with  the  word  holy;  and  there- 
fore comprehends  all  christians,  in  the  manner  which 

a  Matt.  xvi.  18-  6  Malth.  xviil.  15,  16, 17- 


I 


124  LECTURE  XIV. 

1  have  just  explained.  Having  Communion^  is  be- 
ing entitled  to  partake  of  benefits  and  kindnesses,  and 
bound  to  make  suitable  returns  for  them.  And  thus 
christians,  or  saints,  have  communion  or  '  fellowship 
with  the  Father  from  whom  cometh  down  everj 
good  and  perfect  gift:  with  his  son  Jesus  Christ,'" 
through  whom  forgiveness  and  mercy  are  conveyed  to 
us:  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  whose  sanctifying  graces 
are  conferred  on  such  as  duly  qualify  their  hearts  for 
the  reception  of  them.  And  for  these  blessings  we 
owe  all  thankfulness  and  all  duty  in  thought,  word, 
and  deed.  Christians. have  also  communion  with  the 
Holy  Angels;  as  these  '  are  ministering  spirits,  sent 
forth  to  minister  for  them,  who  shall  be  heirs  of  sal- 
vation.'* And  undoubtedly  we  ought  to  think  of 
what  they  do  for  us,  with  an  inward  sense  of  grati- 
tude and  love.  But  as  we  are  unacquainted  with 
particulars,  we  can  make  no  particular  acknowledg- 
ments; nor  ought  we  to  make  any  general  ones,  by 
outward  expressions  of  respect;  since  'worshiping 
God  alone'  is  commanded, "=  and  'worshiping  An- 
gels' condemned'^  in  Scripture. 

With  respect  to  those  of  our  own  nature,  we  are 
bound  so  far  to  hold  communion,  even  with  the  worst 
of  unbelievers,  as  not  only  to  do  them  every  kind  of 
justice,  but  sincerely  to  wish,  and,  if  occasion  offer, 
heartily  endeavour  their  good,  both  in  body  and  soul. 
But  to  all, '  who  have  attained  the  like  precious  faith 
with  ourselves,'^  we  bear  a  still  nearer  relation;  as 
being,  in  a  peculiar  sense,  children  of  the  same  fath- 
er, disciples  of  the  same  master,  animated  by  the 
same  spirit,  members  of  the  same  body.  And  these 
things  oblige  us  to  the  utmost  care  of  preserving  by 
prudent  order  and  mutual  forbearance,  as  much  unity 
in  the  Church,  as  possibly  we  can.  Such  indeed,  as 
obstinately  deny  the  fundamental  doctrines,  or  trans- 
gress the  fundamental  precepts  of  Christianity,  ought 

a  1  John  1.  3.     James  5.  17.  J  Heb.  i.  14.        c  Mattb.  ir.  10. 

d  Col.  ii.  18.  e  2  Pet.  i.  1. 


LECTURE    XIV.  l25 

to  be  rejected  from  christian  communion.  But  to  re- 
nounce communicating  with  any  others,  who  are 
willing  to  admit  us  to  it  on  lawful  terms,  is  the  way 
to  cut  ofl"  ourselves,  not  them,  from  the  body  of 
Christ:  who  yet,  we  doubt  not,  will  allow  those  on 
both  sides  to  belong  to  his  church,  who,  through  par- 
donable passions  or  mistakes,  will  not  allow  one 
another  to  do  so. 

And  as  we  should  maintain  communion  with  all  prop- 
er persons,  we  should  shew  our  disposition  to  it  in  all 
proper  ways:  attend  on  the  public  instruction,  join 
in  the  public  worship,  sacraments  and  discipline, 
whicii  our  Lord  hath  appointed;  and  keep  the  whole 
of  them  pure  from  all  forbidden,  or  suspicious  altera- 
tions or  mixtures:  avoid  with  great  care,  both  giving 
and  taking  needless  offence,  in  respect  to  these,  or 
any  matters:  and,  by  all  lit  means,'  edify  one  another 
in  love:**^  obeying  those  who  are  set  over  us;  con- 
descending to  those  who  are  beneath  us;  esteeming 
and  honouring  the  wise  and  virtuous;  teaching  and 
admonishing  the  ignorant  and  faulty;  bearing  with 
tlie  weak,  relieving  the  poor,  and  comforting  the 
afflicted. 

Nor,  have  we  communion  only  with  the  saints  on 
earth;  but  are  of  one  city,  and  one  family,  with  such 
as  are  already  got  safe  to  Heaven.  Doubtless  they 
exercise  that  communion  towards  us,  by  loving  and 
praying  for  their  brethren,  whom  they  have  left  be- 
hind them.  And  we  are  to  exercise  it  towards  them, 
not  by  addressing  petitions  to  them,  which  we  are 
neither  authorized  to  offer,  nor  have  any  ground  to 
think  they  can  hear:  but  by  rejoicing  in  their  happi- 
ness, thanking  God  for  the  grace  which  he  hath  be- 
stowed on  them,  and  the  examples  which  they  have 
left  us,  holding  their  memories  in  honor,  imitating 
their  virtues,  and  beseeching  the  disposer  of  all  things, 
that  having  followed  them  in  holiness  here,  we  may 
meet  them  in  happiness  liereafter;  and  become  in 

a  Rom.xiv.  19.  Eph.  iv.  16 


126  LECTURE  XV. 

the  fullest  sense, '  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints,  and 
of  the  household  of  God:'*^  'having,  with  all  those 
that  are  departed  in  the  true  faith  of  his  holy  name, 
our  perfect  consummation  and  bliss,  both  in  body  and 
soul,  in  his  eternal  and  everlasting  glory,  through  Je- 
sus Christ  our  Lord.     Amen.' " 


LECTURE   XV. 

CREED. 

Article  X.    The  forgiven'' ss  of  sins. 

We  are  now  come  to  that  Article  of  the  Creed,  for 
which  all  the  preceding  ones  have  been  preparing 
the  way:  a  doctrine  of  the  greatest  comfort  to  be- 
lieve, and  the  utmost  danger  to  misapprehend.  I 
shall,  therefore,  endeavor  clearly  to  explain, 

L  The  nature  of  sin;  its  different  kinds,  and  its 
guilt. 

n.  The  nature  and  conditions  of  the  forgiveness 
promised  to  it. 

L  The  nature  of  sin.  Both  men,  and  all  other  be- 
ings, endued  with  sufficient  reason,  must  perceive  a 
difference  between  diiferent  inclinations  and  actions, 
of  their  own  and  others;  in  consequence  of  which, 
they  must  approve  some,  as  right  and  good;  and  dis- 
approve others,  as  wrong  and  evil.  Now,  this  dis- 
tinction, which  wc  are  capable  of  seeing,  God  must 
see  as  much  more  clearly, as  his  understanding  is  more 
perfect  than  ours.  Therefore,  he  must  entirely  love 
what  is  good,  and  utterly  hate  what  is  evil:  and  his 
will  must  be,  that  all  his  rational  creatures  should 
practice  the  former,  and  avoid  the  latter.  This  he 
makes  known  to  be  his  will,  in  some  degree,  to  all 
men,  however  ignorant,  by  natural   conscience;  and 

a  Eph,  ii.  19.  b  Burial  office 


LECTURE    XV.  127 

hath  more  fully  made  known  to  us,  by  the  revelation 
of  his  Holy  Word,  wherein, also,  besides  those  things, 
which  we,  of  ourselves,  might  have  known  to  be  fit, 
he  hath  signified  his  pleasure,  that  we  sliould  observe 
some  further  rules,  which  he  knew  to  be  useful  and 
requisite,  though  wc  should  otherwise  not  have  dis- 
cerned it.  Now,  the  will  and  pleasure  of  a  person 
having  authority,  as  God  hath  absolute  authority,  is, 
when  sufliciently  notified,  a  law.  Those  laws  of  his, 
which  human  reason  was  able  to  teach  us,  arc  called 
natural  or  moral  laws:  those  which  he  hath  added  to 
them,  are  called  positive  ones.  Obedience  to  ijoth 
sorts,  is  our  duty:  transgression  of  either,  is  sin: 
whether  it  be  by  neglecting  what  the  law  commands, 
which  is  a  sin  of  omission;  or  doing  what  it  forbids, 
which  is  a  sin  of  commission. 

Further:  as  God  hath  a  right  to   give  us  laws,  he 
must  have  a  right  to  punish   us,  if  we   break  them. 
And  we  all  of  us  feel  inwardly,  that  sin  deserves  this 
punishment;  which  feeling  is  what  we  call  a  sense  of 
guilt.     Some  sins  have   more  guilt,  that    is,  deserve 
greater  punishment,  than   others;  because   they  are 
eilher  worse  in  their  own  nature,  or  accompanied  with 
circumstances,  that  aggravate,  instead  of  alleviating 
them.     Thus,  if  bad  actions,  known  to  be  such,  are 
done    with   previous  deliberation    and   contrivance, 
which  are  called  wilful  or  presumptuous   sins;    they 
are  very  highly  criminal.  But  if  we  do  amiss  in  some 
smaller  matter,  through  inconsiderateness,  or  other 
weakness  of  mind,  or  else  through   a  sudden  unfore- 
seen attack  of  temptation;  which  are  called  sins    of 
infirmity  or  surprise:  these,  though  real,  are  yet  less 
offences.    And  if,  lastly,  we  act  wrong,  through  invin- 
cible ignorance,  that  is,  have  no  means   of  knowing 
better;   then  the   action  is  not,  strictly  speaking,    a 
fault  in  us,  though  it  be  in  itself.     But  if  we  might, 
with  a  reasonable  attention,  have  known    our  duty, 
and  did  not  attend,  we  are  justly  blameablc,  even  for 
a  careless  ignorance,  and  full  as  much  for  a  designed 
one,  as  if  we  had  known  ever  so  well. 


128  LECTURE    XV. 

Another  difference  in  the  kind  of  sins,  is  this;  that 
though  they  be  only  in  smaller  instances,  yet,  if  per- 
sons take  so  little  pains  to  guard  against  them,  that 
they  live  in  a  constant  or  frequent  practice  of  them, 
which  are  called  habitual  sins;  the  guilt  of  these  may 
be  full  as  heavy  as  that  of  greater  transgressors,  pro- 
vided they  be  less  common.  But  if  they  be  great  and 
habitually  indulged,  also;  that  makes  the  worst  of 
cases. 

Committing  sin,  can  never  be  a  slight  matter;  for 
it  is  acting  as  our  own  hearts  tell  us  we  ought  not. — 
it  is  likewise,  for  the  most  part,  injuring,  one  way  or 
another,  our  fellow-crealures;  and  it  is  always  behav- 
ing undutifully  and  ungratefully  to  our  Creator,  who 
hath  sovereign  power  over  us,  and  shews  continual 
goodness  to  us.  We  may  be  sure,  therefore,  that  the 
punishment  due  to  the  least  sin,  is  such  as  will  give 
us  cause  to  wish  from  the  bottom  of  our  souls,  that  we 
had  never  done  it.  More  enormous  ones  are  of  worse 
desert,  according  to  their  degree.  And  since  recom- 
pences,  proportionable  to  them,  are  not,  with  any 
constancy,  distributed  in  this  world;  as  certainly  as 
God  is  just,  they  will  be  in  the  next;  unless  we  ob- 
tain forgiveness  in  the  mean  time;  and  all  will  be 
made  miserable,  as  long  as  they  are  wicked. 

This  is  the  main  of  what  human  abilities,  unassist- 
ed, seem  capable  of  discovering  to  us,  concerning  sin 
and  its  consequences;  excepting  it  be,  that  as  we 
have  a  natural  approbation  of  what  is  good,  so  we 
have,  along  with  it,  a  natural  proneness  to  what  is 
evil;  an  inconsistence,  for  which  reason  finds  it 
hard,  if  possible,  to  account. 

But  here  most  seasonably  revelation  comes  in;  and 
teaches,  not  indeed  all  that  we  might  wish,  but  all 
tliat  we  need  to  know  of  this  whole  matter,  that  our 
first  parents  were  created  upright;  but  soon  trans- 
gressed a  plain  and  easy  command  of  God,  intended 
for  a  trial  of  their  obedience;  by  which  they  pervert- 
ed and  tainted  their  minds;  forfeited  the  immortality, 
which  God  had  designed  them;  brought  diseases  and 


LECTURE  XV.  1'29 

death  on  their  bodies;  and  derived  to  us  the  same 
corrupt  nature  and  mortal  condition,  to  which  they 
had  reduced  themselves.  An  imperfect  illustration 
of  this  lamentable  change,  and  1  give  it  for  no  other, 
we  may  have  from  our  daily  experience,  that  wretch- 
ed poverty,  fatal  distempers,  and  even  vicious  inclin- 
ations, that  often  descend  from  parents  to  their  chil- 
dren. Now,  the  sinful  dispositions,  which  our  origin 
from  our  primitive  parents  hath  produced  in  us,  are 
called  original  sin.  And  this  transgression  of  theirs 
may,  very  consistently  with  divine  justice,  occasion, 
as  the  Scripture  shews  it  hath,  our  being  condemned, 
as  well  as  they,  to  temporal  sufferings  and  death.  For 
even  innocent  creatures  have  no  right  to  be  exempt 
from  them:  and  to  fallen  creatures  they  are  peculiar- 
ly instructive  and  medicinal.  The  same  transgres- 
sion may,  also,  with  equal  justice,  occasion  our  being 
exposed  to  a  more  difficult  trial  of  our  obedience, 
than  we  should  else  have  undergone;  indeed,  than 
we  should  be  able,  by  the  strength  which  remains  in 
us,  to  support.  And  thus  were  we  left  to  ourselves, 
we  must,  in  consequence  of  the  fall  of  our  first  pro- 
genitors, become  finally  miserable.  But  God  is  ready 
to  give  us  more  strenglh,  if  we  will  ask  it:  and  he 
may,  undoubtedly,  subject  us  to  any  difficulties  that 
he  pleases,  provided  he  bestows  on  us,  whether  natu- 
rally or  super-naturally,  the  power  of  going  through 
them  in  the  manner  that  he  expects  from  us,  which 
he  certainly  doth  bestow  on  all  men.  And  if  they 
use  it,  they  will  be  accepted  by  him  in  a  proper  de- 
gree: what  that  is,  we  are  no  judges. 

But  when,  insteadof  resisting  our  bad  inclinations, 
as  through  the  grace  of  God  we  may,  we  voluntarily 
follow  and  indulge  them;  then  we  fall  into  actual 
sin;  and  are  in  strictness  of  speech  guilty,  and  deserv- 
ing of  punishment.  And  this  punishment  the  Scrip- 
ture frequently  expresses  by  the  name  of  death.  For 
death  being  the  most  terrible  to  human  nature,  of  all 
the  punishments  that  man  inflicts;  it  is  used  to  signi- 
fy the  most  terrible  that  God  inflicts:  even  those; 
N 


130  LECTURE    XV. 

which  extend  beyond  death,  and  are,  therefore,  called 
the  '  second  death.' "^  Accordingly,  our  Saviour  di- 
rects his  followers:  'be  not  afraid  of  them  that  kill 
the  body;  and  after  that  have  no  more  that  they  can 
do.  But  I  will  forewarn  you  whom  you  shall  fear. 
Fear  him,  which,  after  he  hath  killed,  hath  power  to 
cast  into  hell:  yea,  I  say  unto  you,  fear  him.'  *  ■ 

The  nature  and  duration  of  the  future  sufferings, 
reserved  for  sinners,  are  most  awfully  described  in 
the  Word  of  God:  the  declarations  of  which  concern- 
ing Ihem,  I  shall  soon  have  occasion  to  to  lay  before 
you.  But  in  the  mean  while,  we  all  know  them  to  be 
such,  as  may  abundantly  suffice  to  engage  us  in  a  niost 
serious  inquiry,  how  we  shall  obtain,  what  was  pro- 
posed to  be  explained. 

II.  The  forgiveness  of  sins.  Now,  thus  much  our 
own  reason  evidently  teaches;  that  when  we  have 
done  amiss,  we  are  to  undo  it  as  far  as  we  can.  We 
are  to  disapprove  it,  and  be  sorry  for  it,  as  we  have 
great  cause:  to  beg  pardon  of  God,  for  having  of- 
fended him;  to  make  the  best  amends  we  are  able  to 
our  fellow-creatures,  if  we  have  injured  them;  to  be 
very  humble  in  our  hearts,  and  very  watchful  in  our 
future  conduct.  These  things,  through  God's  help, 
we  can  do;  and  these  are  all  that  nature  directs  us 
to  do.  Undoubtedly,  he  will  never  accept  less;  but 
the  question  is,  wlicther  he  will  so  far  accept  this,  as 
to  be  reconciled  to  us  upon  it.  Since  wickedness  de- 
serves punishment,  it  may  be  justly  punished.  Being 
sorry  for  it,  is  not  being  innocent  of  it.  And  the  most 
careful  obedience  afterwards,  no  more  makes  a  com- 
pensation for  what  went  before,  than  avoiding  to  run 
into  a  new  debt,  pays  off  the  old  one:  besides  that, 
we  never  obey  so  well,  as  not  to  add  continually  some 
degree  of  fresh  misbehaviour.  God,  indeed,  is  mer- 
ciful; but  he  is  equally  righteous  and  holy,  and  ab- 
horrent of  sin.  And  what  can  the  mere  light  of  our 
own  understandings  discover  to  us,  with  any  assur» 

«  Rev.  xxl  14-  xxi.  8-  I  Luke  xii.  4.  5. 


LECTURE    XV.  131 

ance,  from  these  attributes  joined?  We  see,  that  in 
this  world,  the  most  merciful  rulers,  if  they  arc  just 
and  wise,  also,  whicli  God  is,  often  punish  even  those 
oirenders,  wlio  repent  the  most  iieartily.  The  honor 
and  good  order  of  their  government  requires  it.  And 
why  may  he  not  have  reasons  of  the  same,  or  even  of 
a  dilFcrent  nature,  for  doing  the  same  thing? 

Still  the  case  of  penitents  must  be  more  favorable, 
than  that  of  othei:s.  And  there  is  ground  for  all  such 
to  hope,  that  such  pity,  as  can,  will  be  shewn  them  in 
some  manner,  though  they  cannot  be  sure  how,  or  to 
what  effect.  And  God  hath  been  pleased  to  confirm 
this  hope,  from  time  to  time,  by  various  revelations, 
gradually  unfolding  his  gracious  designs:  till,  by  the 
coming  of  our  blessed  Lord,  the  whole  purpose  of 
his  goodness  was  opened,  as  far  as  it  is  proper,  that 
mortals  should  be  acquainted  with  it. 

From  these  revelations,  contained  in  the  Bible,  we 
learn,  that  repentance  alone,  even  the  completest, 
would  not  be  sufhcient  to  reinstate  us  fully  in  God's 
favor;  much  less  the  poor  endeavours  towards  it, 
which  we  of  ourselves  are  capable  of  using:  but  that 
our  pardon  and  salvation  depend  on  the  compassion- 
ate intercession  of  a  mediator,  appointed  by  our 
heavenly  Father:  that  a  person,  who  should  deliver 
mankind  from  the  bitter  fruits  of  their  transgressions, 
had  in  general  been  promised,  and  the  promise  been 
believed,  from  the  earliest  ages;  and  more  particular 
notices  of  him,  gradually  imparted  to  the  successive 
generations  of  the  ciiosen  people:  that  at  length,  in 
the  season,  which  infinite  wisdom  saw  to  be  fittest,  he 
appeared  on  earth,  in  the  character  of  the  only  be- 
gotten Son  of  God;  taught  his  followers  the  precepts, 
and  set  them  the  example,  of  perfect  piety  and  vir- 
tue; and  after  bearing  cheerfully,  for  this  purpose, 
all  the  inconveniences  of  mortal  life,  submitted  to 
sufTer  a  cruel  death  from  wicked  men,  provoked  by 
the  perfections  which  they  ought  to  have  adored: 
that  this  voluntary  sacrifice  of  himself,  the  Almighty 


132  LECTURE   XV. 

was  pleased  to  accept  from  him,  whose  divine  natare* 
united  to  the  human,  gave  it  unspeakable  value,  as  a 
reason  for  entering  into  a  covenant  of  mercy,  with 
all  those,  who  should  be  influenced  by  faith  in  his 
doctrines,  to  obey  his  laws:  that  still  neither  our  obe- 
dience, nor  our  faith  itself,  is  at  all  meritorious,  or  in 
any  degree  the  cause  of  our  acceptance:  for  they 
are  both  of  them  God's  gift;  and  they  are  both, 
through  our  fault,  very  imperfect;  but  yet,  that  thank- 
ful belief  in  Christ,  as  our  Saviour  from  the  power 
and  the  punishment  of  sin,'  working  by  love'  '^  to  our 
Maker,  our  Redeemer,  our  Sanctifier,  our  fellow- 
creatures,  is  appointed  the  condition  of  our  obtaining, 
and  the  instrument  of  our  receiving  pardon. 

The  reasonsof  this  appointment, 'we  see,  as  through 
a  glass  darkly;'  *  yet  enough  of  them  to  convince  us 
of  its  being '  the  wisdom  of  God,'  though  '  in  a  mys- 
tery.' <=  With  respect  to  ourselves,  it  hath  the  most 
powerful  tendency  to  inspire  us  with  humility,  grati- 
tude, and  dihgence.  With  respect  to  the  blessed  Je- 
sus, it  was  a  fit  reward  for  what  he  had  done  and  suf- 
fered, to  take  those  into  favor  again,  for  whom  he  had 
interested  himself  with  such  inexpressible  goodness. 
And  with  respect  to  God,  it  was  a  strong  demonstra- 
tion of  his  concern  for  the  glory  of  his  attributes,  and 
the  honor  of  his  government,  that  he  would  not  be 
reconciled  to  sinners  on  any  other  terms,  than  such 
an  interposition  of  such  a  person  in  their  behalf: 
which  yet,  since  he  himself  provided,  as  well  as  ac- 
cepted, his  kindness  to  us  is  no  less,  than  if  he  par- 
doned us  without  it.  Thus,  then,  did  'mercy  and  truth 
meet  together:  righteousness  and  truth  kiss  each  oth- 
er;'*^ and  God  shew  himself 'just,  and  yet  thejustifi- 
er  of  them  that  believe  in  Jesus.'  * 

But  then  we  must  always  remember,  that  none  will 
be  forgiven  and  made  happy  by  the  means  of  Christ, 
but  they  who  are  reformed  and  made  holy  by  his 
means:  that  his  sacrifice  is  not  to  stand  instead  of  our 

a  Gal.  V.  6.    b\  Cor.  xiii.  12.  c  1  Cor.  il.  7.  d  Psal.  Ixxxv.  10.    e  Rom.  m.  26 


LECTURE    XV.  133 

repentance  and  amendment;  but  is  the  consideration 
which  induces  God  first  to  work  in  us  pious  disposi- 
tions, then  to  accept  us,  if  we  cultivate  and  exert 
them  faithfully. 

Perhaps  the  benefit  of  this  sacrifice  may  extend,  in 
a  very  valuable,  though  inferior  degree,  even  to  those 
who  have  had  little  or  no  knowledge  of  Him  who 
otTered  it.  But  in  such  questions,  we  have  no  con- 
cern. Our  business  is  to  take  care  that  it  may  ex- 
tend to  us,  by  embracing,  with  an  active,  as  well  as 
joyful  faith,  the  gracious  tenders  of  the  gospel  dispen- 
sation. 

Indeed,  the  first  advantage  that  we  have  from  it, 
is  before  we  are  capable  of  knowing  our  happiness, 
at  the  time  of  our  baptism.  For  baptism  restores  the 
infants  of  believing  parents,  as  will  be  proved  hereaf- 
ter, in  explaining  it,  to  that  assurance  of  immortal 
life,  which  our  first  parents  lost,  and  we,  by  conse- 
quence. But  when  administered  to  persons  of  riper 
years,  as  it  conveys  a  further  privilege,  the  pardon  of 
their  former  actual  sins,  it  also  requires  a  suitable 
condition,  the  exercise  of  an  actual  faith,  such  as  will 
produce  future  obedience.  And  as  infants  are  bapti- 
zed only  on  presumption  of  their  coming  to  have  this 
faith  in  due  time;  so,  if  they  live,  and  refuse  to  be  in- 
structed in  it,  or  despise  it,  their  baptism  will  avail 
them  nothing.  For  it  is  a  covenant:  at  first,  indeed, 
made  for  us;  but  to  be  afterwards  acknowledged  and 
ratified  by  us;  as  it  is  in  confirmation.  And  in  this 
covenant  we  engage,  on  our  part,  to  keep  ourselves, 
with  an  honest  care,  free  from  sin:  and  God  engages 
on  his,  to  consider  us,  not  because  of  our  care,  though 
on  condition  of  it,  but  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  as  free 
from  guilt;  notwithstanding  such  infirmities  and  fail- 
ings, as  may  overtake  well-meaning  persons.  He  will 
not  look  on  these  as  breaches  of  his  covenant,  but  read- 
ily pass  them  over;  provided  we  make  a  general  con- 
fession of  them  in  our  daily  prayers,  and  strive  against 
them  with  a  reasonable  diligence.  For  such  things  we 
canaot  expect  to  avoid  entirely;  but  greater  ofifencea 
N  2 


134  LECTURE    XV. 

we  may.  And,  therefore,  if  we  fall  into  any  habitua! 
wickedness,  or  any  single  act  of  gross  and  deliberate 
sin;  we  forfeit  the  happiness  to  which  our  baptisnri 
entitles  us:  and  if  we  continue  impenitent,  the  more 
privileges  we  have  enjoyed,  the  more  severely  we  shall 
be  punished.  For  '  to  whomsoever  much  is  given,  of 
him  shall  much  be  required.'  ° 

But  if  God  allow  us  time,  and  we  make    use  of  it, 
not  only  to  be  sorry  for  having  lived  ill,  for  this  alone 
is  not  gospel  penitence,  but  to  be  sorry  from  a  princi- 
ple of  conscience;  and  to  shew  of  what  sort  our  sor- 
row is,  by  living  well  afterwards,  in  all  those  respects 
in  which  we   have  been    faulty,  we  become   entitled 
again  to  the  divine  favor.     For  though  the  Scripture 
declares  it '  impossible  to  renew?  some  sinners  '  to  re- 
pentance:'* yet  if  this  be  taken  strictly,  it  can  mean 
only  'blasphemers  against  the  Holy  Ghost.'  '^  Besides^ 
impossible,  in  all  languages,  often  signifies  no  more 
than  extremely  difficult:  and  '  with  God  all  things  are 
possible.'  **  Experience  proves, that  great  numbers  are 
'renewed  to  repentance:  and    that  they  shall  not  be 
forgiven,  when  they  repent,  is   no  where  said.     It  is 
true,  'there   remains  no  more  sacrifice  for  sin,'*  no 
other  method  of  salvation,  than  that,  to  which  they 
have  lost  their  claim.  But  still,  if  they  humbly  apply 
for  a  fresh  interest  in  it;  since  the  Apostle  directs  all 
Christians  to    restore   such   to  their  communion,  as 
brethren,'  in  the  spirit  of  meekness:'-''  there  can  be 
no  doubt,  but  God  will  receive   them,  as   a   Father, 
with  pity  and  mercy.     Indeed  the  words  of  St.  John 
alone,  would  be  sufficient  to  banish  all  despondency, 
from  the  breast  of  every  christian  penitent:   'my  lit- 
tle children,  these  things  I  write  unto  you,  that   ye 
sin  not.     But  if  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate 
with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ,  the  righteous;   and  he 
is  Ihe  propitiation' for  our  sins.'^ 

You  see,  then,  the  inestimable  goodness  of  God, in 
providing  means,  by  which  we  not  only  shall  be  par- 

«  Luke  xii.48.       .  b  Heb.  vi.  4,6  c  Matt.  xii.  31  d  Matt.  xix.  26 

sHeb.x;26.  /Gal.  vi]  ^  1  John  ii.  1.  2. 


LECTURE    XVI.  135 

doned,  but  have  the  comfort  of  knowing  beforehand, 
that  we  shall.  But  then  you  see,  also,  the  only  terms 
on  which  we  are  to  expect  it.  And  these  are,  not 
that  we  live  on  in  a  circle  of  sinning  and  repenting; 
not  that  we  abstain  from  some  sins,  and  indulge  oth- 
ers; but  that  we  so  repent  of  all  our  sins,  as  not  wil- 
fully to  sin  again.  And  till  we  are  arrived  at  this,  we 
must  never  think  ourselves  in  a  safe  condition.  For, 
as  on  the  one  hand, '  if  the  wicked  man  turn  from  his 
wickedness,  he  shall  live:'  "  so  on  the  other,  '  if  the 
righteous  man  turn  from  his  righteousness,  he  shall 
die.'  *  '  Blessed  as  they,  whose  transgression  is  forgiv- 
en, and  whose  sin  is  covered.  Blessed  are  they,  to 
whom  the  Lord  impiiteth  not  iniquity,  and  in  whose 
Spirit  there  is  no  guile.'  "^ 


LECTURE  XVL 

CREED. 

Articles  xr.  xii.  Part  i.      The  resurrection  of  the  bo^ 
dy  and,  the  life  everlasting. 

The  resurrection  of  the  body  and  life  everlasting,^ 
being  the  consequences  of  the  preceding  article,  the 
forgiveness  of  sins,  our  belief  of  that  comfortable  truth, 
leads  us  naturally  to  believe  these  also.  And  as  they 
complete  the  w'hole  of  \^hat  we  are  concerned  to 
know;  so  here  the  profession  of  our  faith  happily 
concludes,  having  brought  us  to  the  'end  of  our  faith, 
the  salvation  of  our  souls.'  '^ 

Though  this  part  of  our  Creed  expresses  only  two 
things;  yet  it  implies  two  more:  and  so  comprehends 
the  four  following  particulars: 

L  That  the  souls  of  all  men  continue  after  death. 

IL  That  their  bodies  shall  at  the  last  day  be  raised 
up,  and  re-united  to  them, 

a  Ez€k.  xviii.  27-         b  Ibid.  24,        e  Psalm  sisii.  1.2-        d  1  Pet.L  9r 


136  LECTURE  XVI. 

III.  That  both  souls  and  bodies  of  good  persons 
shall  enjoy  everlasting  happiness. 

IV.  That  those  of  the  wicked  shall  undergo  ever- 
lasting punishment. 

I.  That  the  souls  of  all  men  continue  after  death. 
We  are  every  one  of  us  capable  of  perceiving  and 
thinking,  judging  and  resolving,  loving  and  hating, 
hoping  and  fearing,  rejoicing  and  grieving.  That  part 
of  us,  which  doth  these  things,  we  call  the  mind  or 
soul.  Now  plainly  this  is  not  the  body.  Neither  our 
limbs,  nor  our  trunk,  nor  even  our  head,  is  what  un- 
derstands, and  reasons,  and  wills,  and  likes  or  dis- 
likes: but  something,  that  hath  its  abode  within  the 
head,**  and  is  unseen.  A  little  consideration  will 
make  any  of  you  sensible  of  this.  Then  further:  our 
bodies  increase,  from  an  unconceivable  smallness,  to 
a  very  large  bulk,  and  waste  away  again;  and  are 
changing,  each  part  of  them,  more  or  less,  every  day. 
Our  souls,  we  know,  continue  all  the  while  the  same. 
Our  limbs  may  be  cut  off  one  after  another,  and  per- 
ish: yet  the  soul  not  be  impaired  by  it  in  the  least.  All 
feeling  and  motion  may  be  lost  almost  throughout  the 
body,  as  in  the  case  of  an  universal  palsy;  yet  the 
soul  have  lost  nothing.  And  though  some  diseases 
do  indeed  disorder  the  mind;  there  is  no  appearance, 
that  any  have  a  tendency  to  destroy  it.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  greatest  disorders  of  the  understanding,  are 
often  accompanied  with  firm  health  and  strength  of 
body:  and  the  most  fatal  distempers  of  the  body  are 
attended,  to  the  very  moment  of  death,  with  all  pos- 
sible vigor  and  liveliness  of  understanding.  Since 
therefore  these  two  are  plainly  different  things; 
though  we  knew  no  further,  there  would  be  no  rea- 
son to  conclude,  that  one  of  them  dies,  because  the 
other  doth.  But  since  we  do  know  further,  that  it  can 
survive  so  many  changes  of  the  other,  this  alone  af- 
fords a  fair  probability,  that  it  may  survive  the  great 
change  of  death.     Indeed,  whatever  is  once  in  being, 

a  In  quo igitar  loco  est  (mens?)  Credo  equidem in  capite:  ct  cur  credam'adr 
tore  posdum.    Cic  Tuec.  Disp  1.  i.  c.  29. 


LECTURE  xvr.  137 

we  are  to  suppose  continues  in  being,  till  the  contra- 
ry appears.  Now  the  body,  we  perceive  becomes  at 
death  insensible,  and  corrupts.  But  to  imagine  the 
same  thing  of  the  soul,  in  which  we  perceive  no 
change  at  that  time,  would  be  almost  as  groundless, 
as  if  having  frequently  heard  the  music  of  an  organ, 
but  never  seen  the  person  that  played  on  it,  we  should 
suppose  him  dead,  on  finding  the  instrument  incapa- 
ble of  playing  any  more.  For  the  body  is  an  instru- 
ment adapted  to  the  soul.  The  latter  is  our  proper 
self;  the  former  is  but  something  joined  to  us  for  a 
time.  And  though,  during  that  time,  the  connection 
is  very  close;  yet  nothing  hinders,  but  we  may  be  as 
well  after  the  separation  of  our  soul  from  our  pres- 
ent body,  as  we  were  before,  if  not  better. 

Then  consider  further:  When  the  body  dies,  only 
the  present  composition  and  frame  of  it  is  dissolved, 
and  falls  in  pieces;  not  the  least  single  particle,  of  all 
that  make  it  up,  returns  to  nothing;  nor  can  do,  un- 
less God,  who  gave  it  being,  thinks  fit  to  take  that 
being  away.  Now  we  have  no  reason  to  imagine 
the  soul  made  up  of  parts,  though  the  body  is.  On 
the  contrary,  so  far  as  the  acutest  reasoners  are  able 
to  judge,  what  perceives  and  wills  must  be  one  un- 
compounded  substance.  And  not  being  compound- 
ed, it  cannot  be  dissolved,  and  therefore  probably 
cannot  die.  '^ 

God  indeed  may  put  an  end  to  it,  when  he  pleases. 
But  since  he  hath  made  it  of  a  nature  to  last  forever, 
we  cannot  well  conceive  that  he  will  destroy  it  after 
so  short  a  space,  as  that  of  this  life:  especially  con- 
sidering, that  he  hath  planted  in  our  breasts  an  ear- 
nest desire  of  immortality,  and  a  horror  at  the  thought 
of  ceasing  to  be.  It  is  true,  we  dread  also  the  death 
of  our  bodies,  and  yet  we  own  they  must  die;  but 
then  we  believe,  that  they  were  not  at  first  intended 
to  die;  and  that  they  shall  live  again  wonderfully  im- 
proved.    God  hath  in  no  case  given  us  natural  dis- 

a  See  Cic.  Tusc.  Disp.  i.  29. 


138  LECTURE    XVI. 

positions  and  hopes,  which  he  purposed  at  the  same 
time  to  disappoint:  much  less,  when  tliey  are  such, 
that  the  wisest  and  best  men  feel  the  most  of  them, 
and  are  made  still  wiser  and  better  by  them. 

Besides,  there  are  plainly  in  our  souls  capacities 
for  vastly  higher  improvements,  both  in  knowledge 
and  goodness,  than  any  one  arrives  at  in  this  life. 
The  best  inclined,  and  most  industrious,  undeniably 
have  not  near  time  enough  to  become  what  they 
could  be.  And  is  it  likely,  that  beings  qualified  for 
doing  so  much,  should  have  so  little  opportunity  for 
it;  and  sink  into  nothing,  without  ever  attaining  their 
proper  maturity  and  perfection?  But  further:  not  to 
urge,  that  happiness  here  is  very  unequally  divided 
between  persons  equally  entitled  to  it:  which  yet  is 
hard  to  reconcile  with  God's  impartial  bounty:  it 
hath  been  already  observed,  in  speaking  of  the  judg- 
ment to  come,  that  though,  in  general,  the  course  of 
things  in  this  w^orld  doth  bear  w^itness  to  God's  love 
of  virtue,  and  hatred  of  sin :  yet,  in  multitudes  of  par- 
ticular cases,  nothing  of  this  kind  appears.  Not  on- 
ly good  persons  often  undergo,  in  common  with  oth- 
ers, the  largest  shares  of  evil  in  life:  and  bad  persons 
enjoy,  in  common  with  others,  the  highest  degrees  of 
prosperity  in  it:  but  the  former  are  frequently  sutfer- 
ers,  and  sometimes,  even  to  death,  for  the  very  sake  of 
their  duty,  and  the  latter  gain  every  sort  of  worldly 
advantage  by  the  very  means  of  their  wickedness. 
Yet  evidently  there  is  a  difference  between  right  be- 
haviour and  wrong;  and  God  must  see  this  ditference; 
and  his  will  must  be,  that  mankind  should  observe  it; 
and  accordingly  we  feel  ourselves  inwardly  bound  so 
to  do.  Now  is  it  possible,  that  a  being  of  perfect  jus- 
tice and  holiness,  of  infinite  wisdom  and  power,  should 
have  ordered  things  so,  that  obeying  him  and  our 
consciences  should  ever  make  us  miserable,  and  dis- 
obeying them  prove  beneficial  to  us,  on  the  whole? 
We  cannot  surely  imagine,  that  he  will  permit  any 
one  such  case  to  happen. 


LECTURE    XVI.  139 

And  therefore  since  in  this  world  such  cases  do 
liappen,  this  world  is  not  our  final  state;  but  another 
will  come  after  it,  in  which  every  one  shall  be  re- 
compensed according  to  his  works.  Without  this  be- 
lief, religion  and  virtue  would  often  want  suHicient 
motives:  with  it  they  never  can;  and  therefore  this 
belief  is  true. 

Strongly  as  these  arguments  prove  the  doctrine  of 
a  life  after  death;  yet  it  receives  considerable  addi- 
tion of  strength  from  the  universal  agreement  of  all 
mankind  in  it,  with  but  few  exceptions,  from  the  very 
beginning.  Of  tlie  earliest  ages  indeed  we  have 
onlysiiort  accounts:  yet  enough  to  judge,  what  their 
notions  of  this  point  were.  What  could  tiiey  be  in- 
deed, when  they  knew,  that  Abel,  with  whom  God 
declared  himself  pleased,  was  murdered  by  his  broth- 
er for  that  very  reason?  Surely  his  brother's  hatred 
did  not  do  him  more  harm  than  God's  love  of  him  did 
him  good.  That  would  l)e  thinking  lowly  indeed  of 
the  Almighty.  And  therefore,  since  plainly  he  had 
not  the  benetit  of  his  piety  here,  there  must  be  ano- 
ther place,  in  which  he  received  it.  Again,  when 
'Enoch  walked  with  God,  and  was  not,  for  God  took 
him:'  "■  could  this  peculiar  favour  be  only  depriving 
him,  before  his  natural  time,  of  the  enjoyments  of  the 
present  state?  Must  it  not  be  admitting  him  to  those 
of  a  future  one?  When  God  called  himself,  in  a  dis- 
tinguished sense,  'the  God  of  Abraham,'  and  the  pat- 
riarchs, what  had  they  enjoyed  in  this  life,  answera- 
ble to  so  extraordiary  a  manner  of  speaking?  Ma- 
ny, in  all  likelihood,  both  equalled  and  exceeded  them 
in  worldly  satisfactions:  but  therefore,  as  the  epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  teaches,  'God  was  not  ashamed  to  be 
called  their  God,  because  he  had  prepared  for  them 
a  heavenly  city.'  When  Jacob  confessed  himself  a 
pilgrim  and  stranger  on  earth,  he  plainly  declared, 
as  the  same  epistle  observes,  that  'he  desired  a  bet- 
ter country'  *for  his  home.     Again,  when  mourning 

a  Gen.  V.  24  *  Heb.  xi.  13—16. 


140  LECTURE    XVI, 

for  the  supposed  death  of  his  son  Joseph,  he  saith,  he 
^will  go  down  to  him:'  we  translate  the  next  word 
wrongly,  'into  the  grave,'  "■  as  if  he  meant  to  have  his 
body  laid  by  him:  that  could  not  be;  for  he  thought 
him  devoured  by  wild  beasts:  it  means,  into  the  in- 
visible state,  the  state  of  departed  souls.  And  in  this 
sense  it  is  said  of  several  of  the  patriarchs,  that 
'they  were  gathered  un'o  their  people;'  *  and  of  all 
that  generation,  which  lived  with  Joshua,  that  they 
*were  gathered  unto  their  fathers.'  <= 

In  the  time  of  Moses  we  find,  that  even  the  hea- 
thens had  a  strong  notion  of  another  life.  For  they 
had  built  a  superstitious  practice  upon  it,  of  seeking 
to  the  dead,*^  and  enquiring  of  them  concerning 
things  to  come.  A  foolish  and  wicked  custom  in- 
deed: but  however,  it  shows  the  belief  was  deeply 
rooted  in  them.  And  though  future  recompences 
were  not,  directly  and  expressly,  either  promised  to 
good  persons,  or  threatened  to  bad,  in  the  law  of  Mo- 
ses; yet  that  might  be,  not  because  they  were  un- 
known, but  because  God  thought  them  sufficiently 
known;  and  for  reasons  of  unsearchable  wisdom,  did 
not  think  proper,  that  Moses  should  make  any  consid- 
erable addition  to  that  knowledge:  of  which  there 
was  the  less  occasion,  as  temporal  rewards  and  pun- 
ishments were  more  equally  administered  by  Provi- 
dence amongst  the  Jews,  than  any  other  people. — 
Besides,  a  life  to  come  is  not  mentioned  in  the  laws 
of  our  own  nation  neither:  though  we  know,  they 
were  made  by  such,  as  professed  firmly  to  believe  it. 
And  the  reason  is,  partly  that  national  laws  are  more 
immediately  designed  to  procure  men  peace  and 
prosperity  on  earth,  than  happiness  in  heaven:  and 
partly  also,  that  they  propose  such  encouragements, 
as  they  are  able  to  bestow;  and  such  penalties,  as 
they  are  able  to  inflict:  which  are  those  of  this  world 

a  Gen.  xxsvil  35.  4  Gen.  sxv.  8.  xxsv.  29.  xlix,  29. 

«  Judg.  ii.  JO.  d  Deut.   xviii.  9—12. 


LECTURE   XVI,  141 

only.  Moses  indeed  went  beyond  the  sanctions, 
which  are  in  man's  power:  and  assured  the  Jews  of 
God's  blessing  on  theirobcdience,  and  curses  on  their 
disobedience.  But  as,  in  so  doing,  lie  spoke  not  so 
much  to  single  persons  considered  singly,  as  to  the 
whole  people  in  a  body;  these  blessings  and  curses 
could  be  only,  what  they  were,  those  of  the  present 
life:  because  the  division  of  mankind  into  nations 
will  subsist  no  longer;  and  therefore  national  good  or 
evil  can  be  enjoyed  or  suffered  only  here.  But  still, 
since  it  is  evident,  through  the  whole  of  his  law,  that 
the  Jews  had  the  most  serious  belief  of  a  just  provi- 
dence; and  also,  from  the  above  mentioned  proofs, 
that  they  believed  a  future  state;  surely  they  must 
believe  in  general,  that  this  providence  would  be  so 
exerted  in  that  state,  as  to  reward  the  good,  and  pun- 
ish the  wicked.  More  and  stronger  evidences  of  this 
will  be  given  under  the  second  particular,  'the  res- 
xirrection  of  the  body.' 

At  present  I  shall  go  on  to  observe  further,  that 
not  only  the  Jews,  but  all  the  nations  of  the  world, 
Avhether  learned  or  unlearned,  whether  known  in  for- 
mer times,  or  discovered  of  later  times,  aj)pear  to 
have  been  persuaded,  that  the  souls  of  men  continue 
after  death.  Now  this  so  universal  agreement  must 
surely  have  arisen  from  an  inward  principle  of  nature, 
dictating  to  all  persons,  that  they  are  designed  for  a 
future  existence;  and  tliat  as  they  are  plainly  crea- 
tures accountable  for  their  actions,  yet  often  do  not 
account  here,  they  must  expect  to  do  it  hereafter. 
Or  should  the  notion  be  supposed  to  have  its  origin 
from  tradition;  that  tradition  must  have  been  derived 
from  what  God  himself  had  taught  the  first  of  men; 
else  it  had  never  reached  to  all  men;  and  it  must 
have  found  some  powerful  confirmation  in  the  minds 
and  hearts  of  men:  else  in  so  great  a  length  of  time, 
amidst  so  many  changes  of  human  circumstances,  it 
must  have  been  universally  worn  out  and  forgotten. 

Indeed,  before  our  Saviour's  days,  length  of  time, 
and  folly,  and  wickedness,  had  every  where  obscured 
O 


142  LECTURE  XVI. 

and  darkened  this  great  truth,  by  fabulous  additions 
and  absurd  alterations;  which  hindered  the  good  in- 
fluence of  it,  on  some  persons,  and  discredited  the 
belief  of  it  with  others.  And  had  there  been  none  of 
these  obstacles  thrown  in  their  way;  though  reason 
and  conscience  teach  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state; 
yet  by  the  generality  of  men,  reason  is  little  exer- 
cised, and  conscience  little  consulted,  in  relation  to 
unwelcome  truths.  And  though  the  Old  Testament 
gave  some  furiher  intimations  of  it;  yet  these  were 
neither  very  clear  and  explicit,  nor  known  by  the 
greatest  part  of  the  world.  No  wonder  then  if  their 
conclusions,  concerning  a  matter  so  entirely  out  of 
sight,  were  often  doubtful,  and  often  false:  and  thus 
they  were  misled  in  a  subject  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance to  them  of  all  others.  It  is  therefore  one  ines- 
timable benefit  of  the  christian  revelation,  that  our 
blessed  Lord  had  thoroughl}'  removed  the  preceding 
uncertainties  and  errors;  and  'brought  life  and  im- 
raortality  to  perfect  light  through  the  gospel:'"  not 
only  confirming  by  divine  authority  whatever  had 
been  rationally  taught  before;  but  adding,  l)y  the 
same  authority,  several  interesting  particulars,  which 
human  faculties  could  not  discover:  and  which  part- 
ly have  been  mentioned  to  you,  in  discoursing  on  the 
general  judgment:  and  partly  will  be,  in  what  I  shall 
further  say  under  the  heads  now  proposed. 

All  that  remains  to  be  said  under  the  first  is,  that 
neither  the  full  reward  of  good  persons  deceased  is  as 
yet  bestowed  on  them,  nor  the  full  punishment  of  the 
wicked  as  yet  inflicted;  these  things  being  to  follow 
the  general  resurrection;  but  that  still,  since  our  Sa- 
viour describes  the  soul  of  '  Lazarus  as  carried  by 
Angels  into  Abraham's  bosom,'  and  there  comfor- 
ted:* since  he  promised  the  penitent  thief,  that  he 
should  'be  that  day  with  him  in  Paradise;' "^ and  St. 
Paul  speaks  of  being  'present  with  Christ,'  as  the  im- 
mediate consequence  of  death,  and  far  better  than 

a  2  Tim.  i.  10.  b  Luke  xvi.  22,  25.  «  Luke  xxiii.  43. 


LECTURE  XVI.  143 

this,  life:  therefore  the  state  of  those, '  who  die  in 
the  Lord,'"  is  now  a  state,  not  of  insensibility,  but 
happiness:  wherein  they  are  '  blessed  in  resting  from 
their  labours;'*  and  doubtless  'rejoice,  with  joy  un- 
speakable and  full  of  glory,* "  in  the  prospect  of  that 
completer  lelicity,  which  the  righteous  judge  of  all 
will  hereafter  give  them. 

For  as  to  the  pretence  of  a  purgatory,  where  the 
greatest  part  of  good  persons  are  to  suifer  grievous 
temporal  punishments,  after  death,  for  their  sins, 
though  the  eternal  punishment  is  remitted-:  it  hath 
nc  ground  in  the  least.  Our  Saviour's  saying,  'that 
the  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  not  be 
forgiven  in  this  world,  or  that  v.hich  is  to  come;'  "^  is 
merely  saying,  it  shall  not  be  forgiven  at  all,  but 
punished  both  here  and  hereafter.  'The  prison,  out 
of  which,'  he  saith,  the  person,  who  agrees  not  with 
his  brother,  '  shall  not  come,  till  he  hath  paid  the 
last  farthing;'*  is  either  a  literal  prison  of  this  world, 
or  the  prison  of  hell,  in  the  next,  out  of  which  the 
contentious  and  uncharitable  shall  never  come,  for 
.they  can  never  pay  the  last  farthing.  'The  spirits 
in  prison,'  to  whom  St.  Peter  saith,  'Christ  by  his 
spirit  preached,'  he  saith  also,  were  '  the  disobedient 
in  the  days  of  Noah,' -^  with  whom  his  spirit  strove,^ 
whilst  they  were  on  this  earth;  and  who  for  their 
disobedience  were  sent,  not  to  purgatory,  but  to  a 
worse  confinement.  When  St.  Paul  bids  men  '  take 
heed,  how  they  build  on  the  foundation  of  Christi- 
anity;' adding,  that  the  '  fire  shall  try  every  man's 
work  and  if  any  man's  work  shall  be  burnt,  he 
shall  suffer  loss;  but  still  shall  be  saved,  yet  so 
as  by  fire:'*  he  means  that  persons  must  not 
mix  doctrines  of  their  own  invention  with  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  which  in  this  instance,  amongst 
others,  those  of  the  church  of  Rome  have  done:  for 

a  2  Cor.  V.  8     Phil.  i.  23.  b  Rev.  xiv.  13.  c  1  Pet.  1,  8. 

d  Matt.  xii.  31,  32.  e  Malth.  v.  26.        /  1  Pet.  iu.  18,  19,  20 

g  Gen.  vi.  3.  A  1  Cor.  iii.  10—15. 


144  LECTURE    XVf. 

when  the  '  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  Hea- 
ven in  flaming  fire,'"  to  judge  the  world,  such  notions 
will  not  stand  the  trial:  they  that  hold  them  will  be 
losers  by  them;  and  though  still  they  may  be  saved, 
it  will  be  with  difliculty  and  danger;  as  a  person  es- 
capes, when  his  house  is  burning.  When  lastly, 
many  of  the  ancient  christians  prayed  for  the  dead; 
besides  that  they  had  no  warrant  for  so  doing,  it  was 
only  for  the  completion  of  their  happiness,  whom  they 
apprehended  to  be  already  in  Paradise:  it  was  for 
the  apostles,  saints,  and  martyrs;  for  the  blessed  vir- 
gin herself:  whom  they  certainly  did  not  think  to  be 
in  purgatory.  And  observe,  if  they  prayed  for  them, 
they  did  not  pray  to  them.  Purgatory  then  is  noth- 
ing, but  an  imaginary  place,  invented  by  men,  to 
give  bad  persons  hope,  and  good  persons  dread  of  be- 
ing put  into  it;  that  they  may  get  what  they  can  from 
both,  by  pretending  to  deliver  them  out  of  it  again. 
Fear  not  therefore  such  vain  terrors.  'The  souls  of 
the  righteous  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Loid:  and  there 
shall  no  torment  touch  them.,'* 

Those  of  the  wicked,  on  the  contrary,  as  they  are 
to  be  hereafter  with  the  devils,  we  may  justly  be- 
lieve are,  like  them,  'now  delivered  into  chains  of 
darkness,  to  be  reserved  unto  judgment:'*^  and 
though  the  worst  of  their  sufferings  shall  not  begin> 
till  the  day  of  judgment  comes;  yet  they  are  repre- 
sented by  our  Saviour,  as  being,  instantly  after  death , 
in  a  place  where  they  are  tormented:'^  and  un- 
doubtedly, the  loss  of  their  past  pleasures  and  gains.^ 
remorse  for  their  past  follies  and  crimes,  despair  of 
pardon,  '  and  the  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment  and 
fiery  indignation,  which  shall  devour  them;'^  cannot 
but  make  their  intermediate  state  intensely  misera- 
ble; and  what  then  will  their  final  one  be!  God 
grant,  that  thinking  frequently  and  seriously  of  these 
awful  subjects, '  we  may  know,'  and  consider, '  in  this 

a  2  Thess.  i.  7,  8.         b  Wisd.  iii.  1.         c  2  Pet.  ii.  4.         d  Luke  xvi.  25. 
c  Heb.  X.  27. 


LECTURE   XVII.  l45 

our  day,  the  things  that  belong  to  our  peace,'  before 
they  are  forever  hid  from  our  eyes." 


LECTURE  XVII. 

CREED. 

Articles  XI.  XII.   Part   II.       The   Resurrection    of 
the  body,  and  the  life  everlasting. 

Under  the  two  hist  articles  of  the  Creed,  as  I  have 
already  observed  to  you,  are  comprehended  four 
points  of  doctrine: 

I.  That  the  souls  of  all  men  continue  after  death. 

II.  That  their  bodies  shall  at  the  last  day  be  raised 
up,  and  re-united  to  them. 

III.  That  both  souls  and  bodies  of  good  persons 
shall  enjoy  everlasting  happiness. 

IV.  That  those  of  the  wicked  shall  undergo  ever- 
lasting punishment. 

The  first  of  these  being  the  foundation  of  all  the 
rest;  I  choose  to  enlarge  on  the  proof  and  explanation 
of  it.     Now  I  proceed  to  shew, 

II.  That  the  bodies  of  all  men  shall  be  raised  up 
again,  and  re-united,  to  their  souls.  This,  reason 
alone  cannot  prove:  and  accordingly  the  Heathen 
were  ignorant  of  it:  but  it  carries  with  it  no  contra- 
diction to  reason  in  the  least.  For  God  is  infinite, 
both  in  power  and  knowledge:  and  it  is  unquestiona- 
bly as  possible  to  bring  together  and  enliven  the 
scattered  parts  of  our  body  again,  as  it  was  to  make 
them  out  of  nothing,  and  give  them  life,  at  first. 
And  therefore,  since  we  must  acknowledge  the  orig- 
inal formation  of  our  bodies  to  have  been  of  God,  we 
have  abundant  cause  to  be  assured,  that  he  can,  af- 
ter death,  form  them  anew  whenever  he  pleases. 
And  that  this  will  be  done,  was  probably  implied  in 
that  general  promise,  made  to  our  first  parents,  that 

a  Luke  lis.  42. 
02 


146  LECTURE  XVII. 

'  the  seed  of  the  woman,'  our  blessed  Lord   'should 
bruise  the  Serpent's  head;'"  destroy  his  power  and 
consequently  take  away  the  curse,  under   which  he 
had  brought  mankind.     For  as  part  of  that  curse  con- 
sists in  the  death  of  the  body,  it  cannot  be  complete- 
ly taken  away,   but  by  the  resurrection  of  the  body. 
In  after-times,  Abraham^  we  find,  had  so  strong  a  be- 
lief of  the  possibility  of  this  article,  that  he  was  will- 
ing, on  the  divine  command,  to  sacrifice  his  son:  rea- 
soning, as  the   epistle   to  the    Hebrews   teaches   us,^ 
'  that  God  was  able  to  raise  him  up,  even  from   the 
dead.'*    And  indeed  he  could  not  have  been  induced 
to  this,  by  any  other  reasoning.     God  had  promised 
him,  that  by  his  son  Isaac  he  should  have  a  numerous 
posterity:  and  this  promise  he  firmly  believed.     Now 
he  must  know,  it  could  never  be  fulfilled,  [[Isaac  was 
to  be  sacrificed,   but  by  his   rising  again:  and  there- 
fore he  must  be  persuaded  that  he  would  rise  again 
for  that  purpose.     On  proceeding  somewhat  further 
in  the  sacred  history,  we  find   Job  expressing  himself 
on  this  head,  if  we  at  all  understand    his   words,  in 
very  strong  terms;  '  I    know    that  my  Redeemer  liv- 
eth;  and  that  he   shall  stand  at  the   latter  day  upon 
the  earth.     And  though  after  my  skin,  this  body   be 
destroyed; "  yet  in  ray  flesh  shall  I  see  God.'"^   Again, 
when  Elijah  was   taken   up  alive  into  Heaven,  this 
must  surely    give   an  expectation,  that  the   body   as 
well  as  the  soul,  was  to  partake  of  future  happiness. 
And  when  the  several  persons,  mentioned  in  the  Old 
Testament,   were  raised  up  to  life,  in  this  world,  it 
could   not  but  increase  the  probability  of  a  general 
resurrection  in  the  next.     Then  in  the  book  of  Dan- 
a;e/,we  have  an  express  declaration,  that  a  time  should 
come,  when,  '  they  who  slept  in  the  dust  of  the  earth, 
should  awake:  some    to   everlasting  life  and  some  to 
shame,    and   everlasting  contempt.'  ®      And  indeed, 
when  those,  whom  we  commonly  call  the  three  chil- 

a  Gen.  iii.  15-  b  Hcb.  xi.  19.         c  So,  I  think,  the  original  should  bo. 

translated.  (i  Jobxix.  25, 26.    «Dan.  xii.2. 


LECTURE    XVII.  147 

dren,  in  the  former  part  of  the  book,  tell  the  king, 
that  even  thougli  it  were  not  the  pleasure  of  God  to 
deliver  them  from  the  fiery  furnace,  yet  would  they 
not  serve  his  God;"  onwliat  other  principle  could  they 
so  rationally,  or  did  they  so  probably  say  this,  as  on 
that,  which  the  brethren  in  tlie  book  of  Maccabees 
explicitly  profess?  There  one  of  them,  stretching 
forth  his  hands  to  the  torment  saith,  '  these  I  had 
from  Heaven:  and  for  his  laws  I  despise  them;  and 
from  him  I  hope  to  receive  them  again.'  Another, 
'  it  is  good,  being  put  to  death  by  men,  to  look  for 
hope  from  God,  to  be  raised  up  again  by  him.'  And 
lastly  the  mother  declares  to  her  children: '  I  neither 
gave  you  birth,  nor  life,  nor  was  it  I  that  formed 
your  memb(;rs;  but  doubtless  the  Creator  of  the 
world,  who  formed  the  generation  of  man,  and  found 
out  the  beginning  of  all  things,  will  also  of  his  mercy 
give  you  breath  and  life  again;  as  you  now  regard 
not  yourselves  for  his  law's  sake.'*  In  the  later  times 
indeed  of  the  Jewish  Church,  not  a  few  denied  this 
doctrine:  but  much  the  greater  number  held  it:  'al- 
lowing, as  St.  Paul  acquainted  Felix,  that  there  shall 
be  a  resurrection  both  of  the  just  and  unjust.' " 

Yet  still,  the  full  confirmation  of  it  was  reserved 
for  our  Saviour  to  give;  who,  having  in  his  life  time 
raised  up  three  several  persons,  as  you  may  read  at 
large  in  the  Evangelists,  raised  up  himself  from  the 
dead,  in  the  last  place:  to  afford  us  the  strongest 
demonstration  possible,  that  he  both  can  and  will 
raise  all  at  the  day  of  judgment. 

This  great  event  will  doubtless,  when  it  comes  to 
pass,  exhibit  to  the  whole  universe  an  astonishing  ev- 
idence of  the  power  and  the  truth  of  God,  who  may 
easily  have  many  reasons  for  restoring  our  bodies, 
which  we  apprehend  not:  besides  those,  which  in 
some  measure  we  do  apprehend;  that  the  soul  of  man 
being  originally,  and  in  the  state  of  innocence,  united 
to  a  body,  is  probably  capable  of  completer  percep- 

aDan.iii.  17,13.  6  2  Mace.  vii.  10— 23.  «  Acts  xxiv.  IS: 


14S  LECTURE    XVII. 

tion  and  action,  and  consequently  of  higher  degrees 
of  reward  or  punishment,  in  that  State,  than  a  separ- 
ate one:  or  at  least  will  be  so,  with  such  a  body,  as 
in  the  next  life  shall  be  allotted  to  it:  and  likewise 
that  our  belief  of  enjoying  happiness,  or  suffering 
misery,  in  both  parts  of  our  frame  hereafter,  must  nat- 
urally incline  us  to  preserve  the  purity  of  both  here: 
abstaining  or  'cleansing  ourselves  from  all  filthiness 
of  flesh  and  spirit,  and  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear 
of  God.''^ 

The  truth  and  reasonableness  of  the  doctrine  be- 
ing thus  established;  it  ought  to  be  no  objection,  that 
several  particulars  relating  to  it,  exceed  our  compre- 
hension. '  How  the  dead  are  raised,'  it  is  sufficient 
that  God  knows;  and  by  no  means  wonderful,  that  we 
do  not:  for  we  scarce  know,  how  any  one  part  of  the 
course  of  nature  is  carried  on.  And  as  to  the  inqui- 
ry, that  follows  this  in  St.  Paul,  '  with  what  body  do 
they  come?'  *  we  are  taught  they  shall  be  so  far  the 
same  bodies,  that  every  one  shall  have  properly  his 
own,  and  be  truly,  the  same  person  he  was  before: 
but  so  far  different,  that  those  of  good  persons  will  be 
subject  to  none  of  the  sufferings,  none  of  the  infirmi- 
ties, none  of  the  necessities  of  this  life.  For,  to  use 
the  same  Apostle's  words,  '  what  is  sown  in  corrup- 
tion, shall  be  raised  in  incorruption:  what  is  sown  in 
dishonour,  shall  be  raised  in  glory:  what  is  sown  a 
natural  body,  shall  be  raised  a  spiritual  body.'  '^  But 
the  particular  nature  of  spiritual  bodies,  or  the  distinc- 
tion that  shall  be  made  in  them,  between  the  more 
eminent  in  goodness  and  their  inferiors,  as  'one  Star 
difFereth  from  another  star  in  Glory  ;''^  these  things 
we  are  not  qualified,  in  our  present  state  to  under- 
stand. And  it  is  some  degree  of  weakness,  even  to 
ask  questions  about  them:  but  would  be  much  great- 
er, to  attempt  giving  answers.  I  shall  therefore  only 
add,  that  such  of  the  good,  as  are  found  'alive  at  the 

a  2  Cor.  vii.  1.  J  1  Cor.  xv.  35.  e  1  Cor.  xv.  42, 43,  44- 

J  Ibid.  41. 


LECTftRE     XVII.  149 

coming  of  the  Lord,'"  shall  not  sleep  or  die,  and 
therefore  cannot  rise  again;  'but  shall  be  changed'* 
into  the  same  likeness  with  those  who  do:  as  the 
scripture  hath  plainly  tauglit  us.  But  what  the  ap- 
pearance and  condition  of  the  bodies  of  wicked  per- 
soiis  will  be  at  the  resurrection,  it  hath  not,  I  think, 
atloided  us  the  least  knowledge,  further  than  is  im- 
plied in  the  description  of  their  punishment,  of  which 
I  shall  treat  before  I  conclude:  and  let  us  be  so  wise 
as  to  dread  the  terrors,  that  arc  thus  concealed  from 
us. 

Concerning  the  general  judgment,  which  is  to 
come  immediately  after  the  resurrection,  I  have  spo- 
ken under  the  article  of  the  Creed,  which  relates  to 
it:  and  therefore  proceed  now  to  the  consequences 
of  that  judgment,  by  shewing  you, 

III.  That  both  the  souls  and  bodies  of  the  pious 
and  virtuous,  will  enjoy  «  everlasting  life:'  that  is,  in 
their  case,  happiness.  For  a  happy  life,  being  the 
only  one,  that  is  a  blessing:  Life,  in  scripture,  very 
commonly  signifies  felicity;  and  death,  misery. 

Now  that  good  persons  will,  sooner  or  later,  be  re- 
compensed by  a  good  God,  is  an  undoubted  truth. 
Uut  then  as  no  one  is  perfectly  good,  and  may  have 
been  very  bad:  there  is  room  for  much  doubt,  who 
hath  a  right  to  apply  this  comfort  to  himself,  and  who 
not.  But,  what  reason  might  be  at  a  loss  to  deter- 
mine, the  scripture  hath  cleared  up:  and  entitled  all 
to  pardon  and  reward,  who  truly  repent  of  their  sins; 
and  sincerely,  though  not  without  mixtures  of  hu- 
man frailty,  obey  God,  from  a  principle  of  faith  in 
Christ,  and  in  reliance  on  the  grace  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Still,  after  this,  reason  unassisted,  can  only 
guess,  of  what  nature,  of  what  degree,  of  what  dura- 
tion, this  reward  will  be.  And  here  once  more  rev- 
elation interposes,  and  most  happily  enlightens  us. 
'tor  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have 
entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God 

<i  1  Tiiess.  iv.  15,  b  1  Cor.  sv.  51- 


150  LECTURE    XVII. 

hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him.  But  God 
hath  revealed  them  unto  us  by  his  spirit.'"  Not  that 
any  exact  account  is  given  us,  of  the  particulars,  that 
shall  make  up  our  future  bliss:  for  in  all  probability 
we  are  not  capable  of  receiving  such  a  one:  our  pres- 
ent faculties  are  not  fitted  for  it. 

But  however,  in  general,  our  Saviour  tells  us,  we 
shall  be  '  as  the  Angels  of  God  in  Heaven.'*  Nay 
his  beloved  disciple  8t.  John  tells  us,  that  though  '  it 
doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be,  this  we  know, 
that  when  God  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  him.'  *•" 
Now  to  be  like  God  implies,  in  few  words,  every 
thing  desirable,  that  ever  so  many  words  can  express. 
Further  yet,  a  voice  from  Heaven  proclaims,  in  the 
Revelation,  that  we  shall  be  free  in  that  state,  from 
ever  thing  that  is  uneasy:  For  '  God  shall  wipe  away 
all  tears  from  our  eyes,  and  there  shall  be  no  more 
death,  nor  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall. there  be 
anymore  pain.'*^  And  multitudes  of  scriptures  assure 
us,  that  we  shall  enjoy  every  thing,  that  is  de- 
lightful: for  they  use  the  noblest  and  strongest  ima- 
ges, of  all  that  in  this  world  is  great  and  splendid, 
and  capable  of  giving  the  most  exalted  and  most  re- 
tined  satisfactions,  to  represent  that  happiness  figura- 
tively, which  cannot  be.  literally  described. 

'  Our  vile  bodies  sliall  be  fashioned  like  unto  the 
glorious  body'*  of  our  blessed  Lord;  which  in  his 
temporary  transfiguration  here  on  earth,  '  shone  as 
the  sun,  and  his  raiment  was  white,  as  the  light.' -^ 
They  shall  be  freed  from  all  tendency  to  decay  or 
disorder;  and  become  unwearied  instruments  for  ev- 
ery excellent  purpose,  to  that  better  part,  which 
they  used  to  press  down. ^  They  shall  doubtless  also 
have  such  gratifications  allotted  to  them,  as  will  suit, 
though  not  their  present  gross  nature,  yet  their  fu- 
ture spiritual  condition:  and  be  adorned  with  all  the 
dignity  and  beauty,  that  ought  naturally  to  accompa- 

a  1  Cor.  ii.  9, 10.  b  Matth.  xxii.  30.  c  1  John  iii.  2. 

d  Rev.  xxi.  4.  «  Phil.  iii.  21.  /Matth.  xvii.  2. 

^Wisd.ix.  15. 


LECTURE    XVII.  151 

ny  absolute  innocence,  universal  love,  divine  favour. 
and  heavenly  joy. 

Then  for  our  minds,  when  once  'the  spirits  of  just 
men  made  perfect,""  as  they  shall  be  in  every  Ihinp; 
worthy  and  amiable:  what  pleasure  must  we  take  in 
meeting  again  the  dear  objects  of  our  former  affec- 
tions, now  become  infinitely  more  deserving  of  them; 
in  conversing  with  all  the  great  and  good  persons 
that  ever  were,  concerning  the  various  scenes  of  this 
present  world,  and  the  blessed  exchange  that  we 
have  made  of  it  for  a  better:  in  learning  from  them, 
and  that  innumerable  company  of  Angels,*  which 
minister  to  God's  will,  continually  new  instruction, 
concerning  all  his  works  of  nature,  providence,  and 
grace!  What  surprising  advances  must  we  make  by 
these  means  in  most  pleasing  knowledge!  What 
rapturous  engagements  in  mutual  friendship!  nor  can 
it  be  questioned  but  such  employments  too,  however 
beyond  our  reach  to  guess  at  them  now,  will  be  as- 
signed to  each  person,  as  shall  produce  him  high  hon- 
our, and  equal  happiness.  But  above  all  happiness 
will  be  that  of  incessantly  seeing  and  loving  God, 
and  feeling  that  we  are  beloved  by  him.  Thus  '  shall 
Ave  be  abundantly  satisfied  with  the  fatness  of  his 
house,  and  made  to  drink  of  the  river  of  his  plea- 
sures: for  with  him  is  the  fountain  of  life,''  in  his 
presence  is  fulness  of  joy,  and  at  his  right  hand  there 
are  pleasures  for  evermore.'''  Were  we  to  have  a 
prospect,  that  our  felicity  would  end:  the  more  ex- 
quisite our  enjoyments  were,  the  more  melancholy 
our  reflections  might  be.  But  in  the  word  of  God 
we  find  repeated  assurances,  that '  the  righteous  shall 
go  into  life  eternal;^  that  the  inheritance,  reserved 
in  Heaven  for  us,  is  incorruptible,  and  fadeth  not 
away.'-^  Nay  indeed,  as  there  will  always  be  room 
for  finite  creatures,  to  advance  without  end  towards 
liim,  who   is  infinite;   and  as   every  improvement  in 

a  Heb.  sii.  23.  i  Heb.  xii.  22.  c  Psal.  xxxvi.  8,  9. 

^  Peal.  xvi.  11.  c  Matth.  xxv.  46.     Rom.  ii.  7.      /  1  Pet.  i.  4, 


152  LECTURE    XVII. 

perfection  must  be  of  itself  a  fresb  delight,  and  will 
certainly  be  rewarded  by  our  Maker  with  fresh  boun- 
ties, we  have  reason  to  conclude  that  our  happiness 
far  from  ever  ending,  will  be  continually  increasing 
to  all  eternity. 

It  is  true  the  greatest,  the  ablest,  the  best  of  us 
merit  no  such  blessedness:  far  from  it.  But  still, 
what  '  God  only  wise'*^  hath  not  thought  too  much  to 
promise,  the  meanest  and  most  ignorant  may  hum- 
bly expect.  They  are  as  capable,  as  others  of  love 
and  duty  to  him,  good-will  to  their  fellow  creatures, 
and  moral  government  of  themselves.  Now  these 
are  the  things  which  he  values:  the  trufe  seeds  of  fu- 
ture bliss;  and  whoever  cultivates  them  faithfully, 
will  be  sure  to  reap  their  fruit,  each  in  proportion  to 
his  improvement.  And  thus  every  one  shall  be  hap- 
py to  the  height  of  his  capacity,  neither  despising 
those  below  him:  nor  envying  those  above  him.  But, 
though  we  ought  to  dwell  upon  this  most  delightful 
and  useful  subject,  in  our  thoughts,  much  more  than 
we  do,  we  must  now  turn  our  eyes  from  it  to  a  very 
different  view,  set  before  us. 

IV.  That  the  souls  and  bodies  of  the  wicked 
shall  undergo  everlasting  punishment. 

This  it  must  be  owned,  is  not  explicitly  mentioned 
in  the  Creed.  And  God  had  rather,  that  we  should 
be  moved  to  obey  him  by  love,  and  hope  of  his  fa- 
vour, than  by  fear  of  his  anger.  But  both  motives 
are  implied  in  this  article.  For  though  life  in  scrip- 
ture more  especially  means  happiness;  yet  its  origin- 
al sense  is  only  continuance  in  being,  whether  hap- 
py or  miserable:  and  as  the  wicked  are  raised,  and 
judged,  in  order  to  suffer  what  they  have  deserved,  so 
they  must  live  afterwards  for  the  same  purpose. 

That  disobedience  to  God  can  never  end  well,  is 
the  plainest  truth  in  the  world:  for  nothing  is  hid 
from  his  knowledge,  nothing  can  escape  his  power; 
he  is  holy  as  well  as  good;  besides  that   goodness  it- 

oRoin.  xvi.  27.        1  Tim.  i.  17.        Jude,  ver.  25. 


LECTDRE   XVII.  153 

self  requires,  the  incorrigibly  bad  to  be  made  exam- 
ples, for  the  sake  of  deterring  others.  Yet  lest,  af- 
ter all,  they  should  promise  themselves  that  he  will 
spare  them,  he  hath  solemnly  and  repccitedly  declar- 
ed, that  he  will  not.  In  this  world,  however,  many 
such  come  off,  to  all  appearance,  with  impunity:  com- 
mitting much  evil,  and  enjoying  much  good.  And 
they,  who  are  punished,  are  often  but  slightly  punish- 
ed; and  seldom  according  to  the  degree  of  their 
crimes;  for  the  deliberate  and  artful  sinners,  who  are 
the  worst,  usually  fare  best  here  below.  As  sure, 
therefore,  as  God  is  just  and  true,  another  state  re- 
mains, in  which  all  this  v.ill  be  set  right. 

What  suiTerings,  in  particular,  the  divine  Justice 
will  then  inflict  on  unpardoned  sinners,  reason  cannot 
determine;  and  revelation  h.atli  given  us  only  gener- 
al and  (igurative  descriptions  of  them;  but  such  de- 
scriptions, as  are  beyond  all  things  terrible;  and  I 
shall  lay  them  before  you,  not  in  my  own  words,  but 
those  of  Holy  V/rit.  The  Judge  of  all  shall  say  un- 
to them, '  depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting 
fire,  prepared  for  the  devils  and  his  angels.'  "  There, 
'they  ph;ill  drink  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  God, 
which  is  poured  out,  without  mixture,  into  the  cup  of 
his  indignation,  and.  shall  be  tormented  with  fire  and 
brimstone;  and  the  smoke  of  their  torment  ascendeth 
up  forever  and  ever,  and  they  have  no  rest,  day  nor 
night:' '  '  their  worm  shall  not  die,  neither  shall  their 
fire  be  quenched.'  '^ 

How  severe  soever  these  denunciations  may  appear 
to  be,  assuredly  the  threatenings  of  God  will  not  be 
vain  terrors.  We  are  partial  and  incompetent  judges 
in  our  own  case;  prone  to  flatter  and  deceive  our- 
selves. But  he  knows  exactly,  what  sin  deserves,  and 
what  the  honor  of  his  government  requires;  from  his 
declaration,  therefore,  we  are  to  learn  our  fate.  '  He 
hath  set  before  us  life  and  death;  and  whether  we 
like, shall  be  given  us.'  ^  If,  therefore, the  latter  be  our 

a  Matt.  xsv.  41.  b  Rev.  xiv.  10,  11- 

c  Isa.  lzvi.24.  Mark  ix.  44,  46,  48.  d  Eccles.  xv,  17. 

P 


154  LECTURE   XVIII. 

wilful  choice,  in  which  we  obstinately  persist;  what 
wonder,  if  we  are  left  to  it?  For  sin  and  misery  must 
and  will  be  companions  forever.  Not  that, in  any  case, 
the  anger  of  God  shall  prevail  over  his  justice:  but 
the  degree  of  each  person's  condemnation  shall  be  so 
exactly  proportioned  to  that  of  his  guilt,  that  when 
the  eyes  of  sinners,  which  here  they  endeavor  to  shut, 
are  opened,  as  they  shall  be  hereafter,  to  see  what 
their  deeds  have  merited,  'every  mouth  shall  be 
stopped,'"  and  'all  flesh  be  silent  before  the  Lord.'* 
For  every  circumstance,  that  can  either  aggravate, 
or  excuse,  will  be  impartially  weighed;  and  some  be 
accordingly  '  beaten  with  many  stripes,  and  £ome 
with  few.'  '^  But  what  the  lowest  degree  of  the  Al- 
mightj's  final  vengeance  may  amount  to,  God  forbid 
we  should  any  of  us  try:  for  whoever  sins,  purposely 
or  carelessly,  in  hopes  of  a  small  punishment,  will 
for  that  very  reason  deserve  a  heavy  one. 

Let  us  all,  therefore,  make  the  use  that  we  ought, 
both  of  the  terrors  and  the  mercies  of  the  Lord:  aw- 
ing ourselves  by  the  former  from  transgressing  our 
duty,  and  encouraging  ourselves  by  the  latter,  to  the 
utmost  diligence  in  performing  it;  that  so  we  may 
pass  through  life  with  comfort,  meet  death  with  cheer- 
fulness, and  having  faithfully  served  God  in  this 
world,  be  externally  and  abundantly  rewarded  by 
him  in  the  next. 


LECTURE   XVIIl. 

FIRST    COMMANDMENT. 

The  whole  duty  of  man  consists  in  three  points:  re- 
nouncing what  God  hath  forbidden  us,  believing 
what  he  hath  taught  us,  and  doing  what  he  hath  re- 
quired of  us:  which  accordingly  are  the  things  pro- 
mised in  our  name  at  our  baptism.  The  two  former 
I  have  already  explained  to  you:  and,  therefore,  I 
proceed  at  present  to  the  third. 

a  Rom.  iii.  19.  b  Zech.  ii.  13.  e  Luke  xii-  47t  48. 


LECTURE  xviir.  155 

Now,  the  things  which  God  requires  to  be  done, 
are  of  two  sorts:  either  such  as  have  been  always  the 
duty  of  all  men;  or  such,  as  are  peculiarly  the  duty  of 
christians.  And  our  Catechism  very  properly  treats, 
of  the  former  sort  first,  comprehending  them  under 
those  ten  commandments,  which  were  delivered  by  the 
Creator  of  the  world,  on  Mount  Sinai,  in  a  most  aw- 
ful manner,  as  you  may  read  in  the  19th  and  20th 
chapters  of  Exodus.  For  though,  indeed,  they  were 
then  given  to  the  Jews  particularly,  yet  the  things 
contained  in  them,  are  such,  as  all  mankind  from  the 
beginning  were  bound  to  observe.  "  And,  therefore, 
even  under  the  IMosaic  dispensation,  they,  and  the  ta- 
bles on  which  they  were  engraven,  and  the  Ark  in 
which  they  were  put,  were  distinguished  from  the 
rest  of  God's  ordinances,  by  a  peculiar  regard,  as 
containing  the  covenant  of  the  Lord.'*  And  though 
the  Mosaic  dispensation  be  now  at  an  end,  yet  con- 
cerning these  moral  precepts  of  it,  our  Saviour  de- 
clares, that '  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass 
from  the  law,  till  all  be  fuliilled.'  '^  Accordingly,  we 
find  both  him  and  his  Apostles,  quoting'  these  ten 
commandments,  as  matter  of  perpetual  obligation  to 
Christians:  who  are  now,  as  the  Jews,  were  formerly, 
the  Israel  of  God.''' 

Indeed,  the  whole  New  Testament,  and  especially 
the  sermon  of  our  blessed  Lord,  on  the  Mount,  in- 
structs us  to  carry  their  obligation  farther,  that  is,  to 
more  points,  than  either  the  Jews,  a  people  of  gross 
understanding,  and  carnal  dispositions,  commonly 
took  in  consideration;  or  their  prophets  were  com- 
missioned distinctly  to  represent  to  them ;  the  wisdom 
of  God  foreseeing,  that  it  would  only  increase  their 
guilt;  and  further,  indeed,  than  the  words  of  the 
commandments,  if  taken  strictly,  express.  But  the 
reason  is,  that  being  visibly  intended  for  a  summary 

Decern  sermones  illi  in  falmlis  nihil  novum  docent,  sed  quod  obliteratum 
I'uerat  admonent .     Novatian  de  lib.  Jiulaicis,  c.  3. 

b  Exod.  sxxiv.  23.  Deut.  iv.  13.  ix.  9, 11,  15.  Josh.  iii.  11.1  Kings,  viii.  9,28. 
2  Chron.  v.  10.  vi.  11.      c  Matt.  v.  18.       d  Gal.  vi.  16. 


156  liECTURE  xnir.^ 

of  human  duty,  thej  both  may,  and  must,  be  under- 
stood, by  those  who  are  capable  of  penetrating  into 
the  depth  of  their  meaning,  to  imply  more  than  they 
express.  And,  therefore,  to  comprehend  their  full 
extent,  it  will  be  requisite  to  observe  the  following 
rules.  Where  any  sin  is  forbidden  in  them,  the  oppo- 
site duty  is  implicitly  enjoined:  and  where  any  duty 
is  enjoined,  the  opposite  sin  is  implicitly  forbidden. 
Where  the  highest  degree  of  any  thing  evil  is  prohib- 
ited; whatever  is  faulty  in  the  same  kinds,  though  in 
a  lower  degree,  is  by  consequence  prohibited.  And 
where  one  instance  of  virtuous  behaviour  is  command- 
ed, every  other  that  hath  the  same  nature,  and  same 
reason  for  it,  is  understood  to  be  commanded  too. 
What  we  are  expected  to  abstain  from,  we  are  ex- 
pected to  avoid,  as  far  as  we  can,  all  temptations  to 
it,  and  occasions  of  it:  and  what  we  are  expected  to 
practice,  we  are  expected  to  use  all  fit  means,  that 
may  better  enable  us  to  practice  if.  All  that  we  are 
bound  to  do  ourselves,  we  are  bound,  on  fitting  occa- 
sions, to  exhort  and  assist  others  to  do,  when  it  belongs 
to  them:  and  all,  that  we  are  bound  not  to  do,  we 
are  to  tempt  nobody  else  to  do,  but  keep  them  back 
from  it,  as  much  as  we  have  opportunity.  The  ten 
commandment?,  excepting  two  that  required  enlarge- 
ment, are  delivered  in  few  words:  which  brief  man- 
ner of  speaking,  hath  great  majesty  in  it.  But  ex- 
plaining them  according  to  these  rules;  which  are 
natural  and  rational  in  themselves,  favored  by  ancient 
Jewish  writers,  authoiized  by  our  blessed  Saviour^ 
and  certainly  designed  by  the  makers  of  the  Cate- 
chism to  be  used  in  expounding  it:  we  shall  find,  that 
there  is  no  part  of  the  moral  law,  but  may  be  fitly 
ranked  under  them;  as  will  appear  by  what  shall  be 
said  in  speaking  separately  on  each  commandment. 

Before  them  all,  is  placed  a  general  preface,  ex- 
pressing, first,  the  authority  of  him  who  gave  them, 
*I  am  the  Lord  thy  God:'  secondly,  his  goodness  to 
those  whom  he  enjoined  to  observe  them;  'who 
brought  thee  out  of  the   land  of  Egypt j  out  oX  the 


i 


LECTURE      XVIII.  157 

house  of  bondage'  Now,  the  authority  of  God  over 
us  Christians,  is  as  great  as  it  could  be  over  the  Jews. 
And  his  goodness  is  much  greater,  in  freeing  us  from 
the  bondage  of  sin,  and  opening  to  us  the  heavenly 
land  of  promise,  than  it  was  in  leading  them,  from 
Egyptian  slavery,  to  the  earthly  Canaan:  though,  in- 
deed, this  deliverance,  having  made  so  fresh  and  so 
strong  an  impression  on  them,  was  the  fittest  to  be 
mentioned  at  that  time. 

The  ten  commandments  being  originally  written, 
by  the  finger  of  God  himself,  on  two  tables  of  stone; 
and  consisting  of  two  parts,  our  duty  to  our  Maker, 
and  to  our  fellow-creatures;  which  we  can  never 
perform,  as  we  ought,  if  we  neglect  that  we  owe  to 
ourselves;  the  four  first,  are  usually  called  duties  of 
the  first  table;  the  six  last,  of  the  second.  And  as 
our  Saviour,  in  effect,  divides  them  accordingly,  when 
he  reduces  them  to  these:  '  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God,  with  all  thy  heart;  and  thy  neighbor  as  thy- 
self.' <" 

The  first  commandment  is,  '  thou  shalt  have  none 
other  Gods  but  me.' 

The  same  reasons,  which  prove  that  God  is,  prove 
that  there  is  but  one  God.  The  imagination  of  two, 
or  more  beings,  each  perfect,  and  each  infinite,  is  at 
first  sight  groundless.  For  one  such  being  is  suffi- 
cient to  produce  and  govern  every  thing  else:  and 
therefore  more  than  one  can  never  be  proved  by  rea- 
son: and  yet,  if  there  were  more,  all  men  would  sure- 
ly have  had  some  way  of  knowing  it:  and  till  we 
have,  we  are  not  to  believe  it.  Indeed  we  have 
strong  reasons  to  believe  the  contrary.  For  if  there 
is  no  difTerence  between  these  several  supposed  be- 
ings, they  are  but  one  and  the  same.  And  if  there 
is  any  difference,  one  must  be  less  perfect  than  the 
other,  and  therefore  imperfect,  and  therefore  not 
God.  Besides,  as  the  whole  course  of  nature  appears 
to  proceed  uniformly  under  one  direction;  there  is, 

a  Matt.  xxii.  37,  39 

P2 


158  LECTURE  xvrir, 

without   question,  only   one    director;    not   severaij 
thwarting  each  other. 

And  what  reason  teaches  in  this  matter,  Scripture 
every  where  confirms:  forbidding  us  to  worship,  or 
beheve  in,  any  other  Deity,  than  the  one  Maker  and 
Ruler  of  heaven  and  earth;  who  hath  manifested 
himself  to  all  men,  by  the  works  of  his  hands:  to  the 
Patriarchs  and  Jews,  by  the  revelations,  recorded  in 
Moses  and  the  Prophets;  and  finally,  to  Christians, 
by  his  Son,  our  Lord;  who,  in  a  way  and  manner  to 
us  inconceivable,  is  one  with  the  Father;  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  with  both:  as  I  have  already  shewn  yoa, 
in  discoursing  on  the  Creed. 

There  being  then  this  one  only  God,  the  command- 
ment before  us  enjoins, 

I.  That  we  have  him  for  our  God: 

II.  That  we  have  no  other. 

I.  That  we  have  him:  that  is,  think  so  of  him,  and 
behave  so  to  him,  as  his  infinite  perfection,  and  our 
absolute  dependence  on  him,  require:  which  general 
duty  towards  God,  our  Catechism  very  justly  branch- 
es out  into  the  following  particulars: 

First,  that  we  -believe  in  him.'  '  For  he  that  Com- 
eth to  God,  must  believe  that  he  is.'«  The  foundation 
on  which  this  belief  stands,  1  have  shewn  in  its  proper 
place.  And  the  great  thing,  in  which  it  consists,  is, 
that  we  fix  firmly  in  our  ininds,  recall  frequently  to 
our  memories,  and  imprint  deeply  upon  our  hearts, 
an  awful  persuasion  of  the  being  and  presence,  the 
power  and  justice,  the  holiness  and  truth,  of  this 
great  Lord  of  all.     The  consequence  of  this  will  be, 

Secondly,  that  we  fear  him.  For  such  attributes 
as  these,  duly  considered,  must  fill  the  most  innocent 
creatures  with  reverence  and  self-abasement.  But 
sinful  and  guilty  ones,  as  we  know  ourselves  to  have 
been,  have  cause  to  feel  yet  stronger  emotions  in 
their  souls,  from  such  a  meditation:  apprehensions 
of  his  displeasure,  and  solicitude  for  his  pardon;  lead- 
ing us  naturally  to  ttha  penitent  care  of  our  hearts* 

aHeb.  xi.6. 


LECTURE   XVIII.  159 

and  lives,  on  which  he  hath  graciously  assured  us, 
that,  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  wc  shall  be  for- 
given. And  then,  gratitude  for  his  mercy,  will  prompt 
us  to  the 

Third  duty  towards  him,  which  our  Catechism  spe- 
cifies, that  we  'love  him:' 'the  fear  of  the  Lord'  being, 
as  the  Son  of  Sirach  declares,  '  the  beginning  of  his 
love.'  "  For  whenever  we  come  to  reflect  seriously  on 
that  goodness,  which  hath  given  us  all  the  comforts 
that  we  enjoy;  that  pity  which  offers  pardon,  on  most 
equitable  terms,  for  all  the  faults  that  wc  have  com- 
mitted; that  grace,  which  enables  us  to  perform  eve- 
ry duty  acceptably;  and  that  infinite  bounty,  which 
rewards  our  imperfect  performances  with  eternal 
happiness;  we  cannot  but  feel  ourselves  bound  to 
love  such  a  Benefactor, '  with  all  our  heart,  and  with 
all  our  mind,  with  all  our  soul,  and  all  our  strength;' 
to  rejoice  in  being  under  his  government;  'make  our 
boast  of  him  all  the  day  long;'  *  and  choose  him  for 
'our  portion  forever.'*  A  mind  thus  affected,  would 
be  uneasy,  without  paying  the  regard  set  down  in  the 

Fourth  place,  which  is,  to  '  worship  him;'  to  ac- 
knowledge our  dependence,  and  pay  our  homage  to 
him;  both  in  private,  to  preserve  and  improve  a  sense 
of  religion  in  ourselves;  and  in  public,  to  support  and 
spread  it  in  the  world.  The  first  part  of  worship, 
mentioned  in  the  Catechism,  and  the  first  in  a  natur- 
al order  of  things,  is  'giving  him  thanks.'  God  ori- 
ginally made  and  fitted  all  his  creatures  for  happiness: 
if  any  of  them  have  made  themselves  miserable,  this 
doth  not  lessen  their  obligation  of  thankfulness  to  him; 
but  liis  continuing  still  good,  and  abounding  in  for- 
giveness and  liberality,  increases  that  obligation  un- 
speakably. With  a  grateful  sense  of  his  past  favors, 
is  closely  connected,  'putting  our  trust  in  him,'  for  the 
time  to  come.  And  justly  doth  the  Catechism  require 
it  to  be  '  our  whole  trust.'  For  his  power  and  good- 
ness are  infinite:  those  of  every  creature  may  fail  us: 

a  Eccles.  xsv.  12.  i  Psal.  xliv.  8.  c  Psal.  Ixxiii.  26. 


160  LECTURE    XVIII. 

and  all  that  they  can  possibly  do  for  us,  proceeds  ul- 
timately from  him.  Now  a  principal  expression  of 
reliance  on  God,  is  petitioning  for  his  help.  For  if  we 
'  pray  in  faith,'  **  we  shall  live  so  too.  And,  therefore, 
trusting  in  him,  which  might  have  been  made  a  sepa- 
rate head,  is  included  in  this  of  worship;  and  put  be- 
tween the  first  part  of  it, '  giving  thanks  to  him;'  and 
the  second,  'calling  upon  him:'  according  to  that  of 
the  Psalmist:  'O  Lord,  in  thee  have  I  trusted:  let 
me  never  be  confounded.'  *  To  call  upon  God  is  to 
place  ourselves  in  his  presence;  and  there  to  beg  of 
liim,  for  ourselves  and  each  other,  with  unfeigned  hu- 
mility and  submission,  such  assistance  in  our  duty, 
such  provision  for  our  wants,  and  such  defence  against 
our  enemies,  of  every  kind,  as  infinite  wisdom  sees 
fit  for  us  all.     After  this  evident  obligation,  follows  a 

Fifth  not  less  so:  'to  honor  his  holy  name  and 
word:  not  presuming  even  to  speak  of  the  great  God 
in  a  negligent  way;  but  preserving,  in  every  expres- 
sion and  action,  that  reverence  to  him,  which  is  due: 
paying  not  a  superstitious,  but  a  decent  and  respect- 
ful regard,  to  whatever  bears  any  peculiar  relation 
to  him;  his  day,  his  church,  his  ministers;  but  espe- 
cially honoring  his  Holy  Word,  the  law  of  our  lives, 
and  the  foundation  of  our  hopes,  by  a  diligent  study 
and  firm  belief  of  what  it  teaches;  and  that  univer- 
sal obedience  to  what  it  commands,  which  our  Cate- 
chism reserves  for  the 

Sixth  and  last,  as  it  is  undoubtedly  the  greatest, 
thing;  '  to  serve  him  truly  all  the  days  of  our  life.' — 
Obedience  is  the  end  of  faith  and  fear;  the  proof  of 
love;  the  foundation  of  trust;  the  necessary  qualifi- 
cation, to  make  worship  and  honor  of  every  kind,  ac- 
ceptable.  This,  therefore,  must  complete  the  whole, 
that  we  '  walk  in  all  the  commandments  and  ordinan- 
ces of  the  Lord,  blameless,' "  not  thinking  any  one  so 
difficult,  as  to  despair  of  it;  or  so  small,  as  to  despise 
it:  and  neverbe  'weary  in  well  doing:  for  we  shall 

a  James  i.  6.  V.  15;  J  Psal.  xxxi.  1.  cLukei.6. 


LECTURE    XVIII.  161 

reap  in  due  season,  if  we  fnint  not:'  "  and  he  alone 
^shali  be  saved,  that  end'iicth  to  the  end.'  *  But  we 
must  now  proceed  to  observe, 

II.  That,  as  this  commandment  requires  us  to  ac- 
knowledge the  one  true  God;  so  it  forbids  us  to  ac- 
knowledge any  other. 

Both  before,  and  long  after  the  law  of  Moses  was 
given,  the  generality  of  the  world  entertained  a  be- 
lief, that  there  were  many  gods:  a  great  number  of 
beings,  superior  to  men,  that  amongst  them  governed 
the  world,  and  were  fit  objects  of  devotion.  To  these, 
as  their  own  fancy,  or  folly  or  fraud  of  others  led 
them,  they  ascribed  more  or  less  both  of  power  and 
goodness:  attributed  to  several  of  them  the  vilest. ac- 
tions, that  could  be;  supposed  them  to  preside,  some 
over  one  nation  or  city,  some  over  another;  worship- 
ed a  few  or  a  multitude  of  them,  just  as  they  pleased, 
and  that  with  a  strange  variety  of  ceremonies,  absurd 
and  impious,  immoral  and  barbarous.  Amidst  this 
crowd  of  imaginary  deities,  the  real  one  was  almost 
entirely  forgot:  false  religion  and  irreligion  divided 
the  world  between  them;  and  wickedness  of  every 
kind  was  authorized  by  both.  The  cure  of  these 
dreadful  evils  must  plainly  be,  restoring  the  old  true 
notion  of  one  only  God;  ruling  the  world  himself: 
which,  therefore,  was  the  great  article  of  the  Jewish 
faith,  as  it  is  of  ours. 

Christians  can  hardly  in  words  profess  a  plurality 
of  gods:  but  in  reality  they  do,  if  they  suppose  the 
divine  nature  common  to  more  than  one  Being;  or 
think  our  Saviour,  or  the  Holy  Spirit,  mere  creatures, 
and  yet  pay  them  divine  honors.  But  besides  these, 
we  apprehend  the  Church  of  Rome  to  sin  against  the 
present  commandments,  when  they  pray  to  angels,  to 
the  holy  virgin,  and  the  saints,  as  being  able  every 
where  to  hear  them;  and  having  not  only  temporal 
relief,  but  grace  and  salvation  in  their  power  to  be- 
stow.    Nay,  were  the  plea,   which   they   sometimes 

Galvi.  9.  i  Matt.  xxiv.  13. 


162  LECTURE  XVIII. 

make,  a  true  one,  that  they  only  pray  to  them  to  in- 
tercede  with  God;  yet  it  would  he  an  insufticient  one. 
For  there  is  no  reason  to  believe,  that  they  have  any 
knowledge  of  such  prayers;  or  if  they  had, '  as  there 
is  one  God,  so  there  is  one  Mediator  between  God 
and  man.'  «  And  we  have  neither  precept,  nor  allow- 
ance, nor  example,  in  the  whole  Bible,of  applying  to 
any  other,  amongst  all  the  absent  inhabitants  ot  tl.e 
invisible  world. 

But  there  are  several  ways  more,  of  transgressing 
this  commandment.     If  we  ascribe  things,  which  be- 
fal  us,  to  fate,  or  to  chance,  or  to  nature;  and  mean 
any  thing  real  by  these  words,  different  from  that  or- 
der which  our  Maker's  providencc^tiath  appointed; 
we  set  up  in  effect  other  gods,  besides  him.     It  we 
imagine  the  influence  of  stars,  the  power  of  spirits, 
in  short  any  power  whatever,  to  be  independent    ot 
him,  and  capable  of  doing  the  least  matter,  more  than 
he  judges  proper  to  permit  that  it  should;  this,  also,  is 
having  more  gods  than  one.     If  we  set  up  ourselves, 
or  others,  above  him,   and  obey,  or  expect  any  one 
else  to  obey,  man  rather  than  God;  here,  again,  is  in 
practice,  though  not  in  speculation,  the  same  .crime. 
If  v/e  love,  or  'trust  in  uncertain  riches,'  more  tlian 
<-  the  living  God;'  *  this  is  that    '  covetousness,  which 
is  idolatry.' ^     If  we  pursue  unlawful   sensual  pleas- 
ures, instead  of  dehghting  in  his  precepts,  this  is  mak- 
ing a  '  god  of  our  own  belly.'  '^    In  a  word,  if  we  al- 
low ourselves  to  practice  any  wickedness  whatever, 
we  serve,  by  so  doing,  the  false  '  god  of  this  world,' " 
instead  of  the  true  God  of  Heaven,  besides  whom  we 
ought  not  to  have  any  other;  and,  therefore,  to  whom 
alone  be,  as    is  most  due,  all   honor  ana  obedience, 
now  and  forever.     iVmen. 

a  1  Tim.  li.  5.  l>  1  Tim.  vi.  17.  c  Col.  iii.  v. 

J  Phil.  iii.  19.  e  2  Cor.  iv.  4. 


LECTURE    XIX.  1G3 


LECTURE    XIX 

SK<:O.ND    COMxMANDMENT. 


We  are  now  come  to  the  second  Commandment, 
which  the  Church  of  Rome  would  persuade  men  is 
only  part  of  the  first.  But  they  plainly  relate  to  dif- 
ferent things.  The  first  appoints,  that  the  object  of 
our  worship  be  the  only  true  God;  the  next,  that  we 
worship  not  him,  under  any  visible  resemblance  or 
form.  And  besides,  if  we  join  these  two  into  one, 
there  will  be  no  tenth  left;  though  the  Scripture  it- 
self hath  called  them  ten:'''  to  avoid  which  absurdity, 
the  Romanists  have  committed  another,  by  dividing 
the  tenth  into  two.  And  they  might  as  well  have  di- 
vided it  into  six  or  seven;  as  I  shall  shew  you,  in  dis- 
coursing upon  it.  For  these  reasons,  the  oldest  and 
most  considerable,  both  of  the  Jewish  and  Christian 
waiters,  who  distinguish  the  Commandments  by  their 
number,  distinguish  them  in  the  same  manner,  that 
we  do.  Perhaps  it  may  seem  of  small  consequence, 
how  that  before  us  is  counted,  provided,  it  be  not 
omitted.  And  we  must  own,  that  some  persons  before 
the  rise  of  popery,  and  some  protestants  since  the  re- 
formation, have,  without  any  ill  design,  reckoned  it 
as  the  papists  do.  But  what  both  the  former  have 
done,  by  mere  mistake,  these  last  endeavor  to  defend 
out  of  policy;  well  knowing,  that  when  once  they 
have  got  the  second  to  be  considered  as  only  a  part 
of  the  first,  they  can  much  more  easily  pass  it  over, 
as  a  part  of  no  great  separate  meaning  or  import- 
ance, than  if  it  were  thought  a  distinct  precept.  And 

«  Exod.  xxxiv.  28.   Deut.  iv,  13.  x,  4. 


164  LECTURE    XIS. 

accordingly,  in  some  of  their  small  books  of  devotion, 
they  pass  it  over,  and  leave  it  out  entirely. '^  But  it 
deserves,  as  I  shall  now  shew  you,  another  sort  of 
regard. 

The  prophet  Isaiah  very  justly  puts  the  question: 
'To  whom  will  ye  liken  God?  Or  what  likeness  will 
ye  compare  unto  him?'*  He  is  an  invisible  Spirit; 
therefore  representing  him  in  a  visible  shape,  is  rep- 
resenting him  to  be  such  as  he  is  not.  He  is  every 
where  present:  therefore,  a  figure,  confined  by  its  na- 
ture to  a  particular  place,  must  incline  persons  to  a 
wrong  conception  of  him.  He  is  the  living,  wise, 
and  powerful  Governor  of  the  \Aorld:.  therefore,  to 
express  him  by  a  dead  lump  of  matter,  must  be  doing 
him  dishonor.  We  are  unable,  indeed,  at  best,  to  speak 
or  think  worthily  of  him:  and  we  cannot  well  avoid 
using  some  of  the  same  phrases,  concerning  him  and 
his  actions,  which  we  do  concerning  the  parts  and  mo- 
tions of  our  own  bodies.  But  we  can  very  well  avoid 
making  visible  images  of  him;  and  the  plainest  rea- 
son teaches,  that  we  ought  to  avoid  it;  because  they 
lower  and  debase  men's  notions  of  God;  lead  the 
weaker  sort  into  superstitions  and  foolish  apprehen- 
sions and  practices;  and  provoke  those  of  better  abi- 
lities, from  a  contempt  of  such  childish  representa- 
tions, to  disregard  and  ridicule  the  religion,  into 
which  they  are  adopted. 

Therefore,  in  .  the  early  ages  of  the  world,  many 
of  the  Heathens  themselves  had  no  images  of  the 
Deity.  Particularly,  the  ancient  Persians  had  none.  '^ 
Nor  had  the  first  Romans;  Numa,  their  second  king, 
having,  as  the  philosopher  Pluturch, himself  a  Roman 
magistrate,  though  a  Greek  by  birth,  tells  us, '  forbid- 
den them  to  represent  God  in  the  form,  either  of  a 
man  or  any  other  animal.'  And  accordingly,  he 
saith,  '  they  had  neither   any  painted  nor  engraved 

a  This  they  do  in  the  Latin  oflicc  of  the  Virgin,  and  in  some  of  their  Englis'i 
devotional  books.  Indeed,  there  they  omit,  likewise,  all  but  the  first  sentence 
of  our  fourth  Commandment,  and  tlie  promise  in  our  fifth  ;  perhaps  to  paliate 
clieij  preceding  omission. 

b  Isa;  xl.  18.  c  Herodot.  1. 1  sec.  131. 


LECTUUE    XIX. 


1G5 


hgare  of  him  for  170  years;  but  temples,  void  of  any 
image  of  any  shape :  thinking  it  impious  to  liken  a  su- 
periornature,  toinferior  ones:  and  impossible  toattain 
llie  notion  of  God  otherwise,  than  by  the  understand- 
ing.' "  AndVarro,  oneofthe  most  learned  of  their  own 
authors,  after  acknowledging,  'that  during  more  than 
170  years,  they  worshiped  the  gods  without  any  visible 
representation,'  added,  that  '  had  they  never  had  any, 
their  religion  had  been  the  purer:  for  which  opinion, 
amongst  other  evidences,  he  brought  that  of  the  Jew- 
ish people;  and  scrupled  not  to  say  in  conclusion,  that 
they  who  first  set  up  images  of  the  gods  in  the  several 
nations,  lessened  the  reverence  of  their  countrymen 
towards  them,  and  introduced  error  concerning  them. '' 
So  much  wiser  were  these  Heathen  Romans  in  this 
point,  than   the  Christian  Romans  are  now. 

But  when  some  of  the  eastern  kingdoms  had  fallen 
into  this  corruption;  particularly  the  Egyptians,  who 
claimed  the  invention  as  an  honor,  «=  the  great  care 
of  God  was  to  preserve  or  free  his  own  people  from 
it.  The  v/ords  of  this  commandment  express  that 
purpose  very  strongly,  and  very  clearly  forbid,  not 
only  making  and  worshiping  representations  of  false 
gods,  but  any  representation  of  God  at  all.  And  to 
shew  yet  more  fully,  that  even  those  of  the  true  God 
are  prohibited  by  it,  Moses,  in  Deuteronomy',  imme- 
diately after  mentioning  the  delivery  of  the  ten  Com- 
mandments, adds  with  respect  to  the  second;  'take, 
therefore,  good  heed  unto  yourselves;  for  ye  saw  no 
manner  of  similitude,  on  the  day  that  the  Lord  spake 
unto  you  in  Horeb,  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire ;  lest  ye 
corrupt  yourselves,  aud  make  you  the  similitude  of 
any  figure.'  "^  And  when  the  Israelites  made  a  golden 
calf  in  the  wilderness,  though  evidently  their  design 

«  Plut.  in  Num.  p.  65.  Ed.  Par.  1624. 

i  Alls,  de  Civ.  Dei.  1.  4.  c.  31.  Dionysius  Halicarnas s eni s  indeeii  ealtb,  I. 
a.  c.  \5%.  f!7,  that  Romulus  erected  images.  But  as  he  mentions  them  no  oth- 
erwise than  incidentally,  amongst  the  provisions  made  by  that  prince  for  divine 
worship,  his  assertion  is  not  so  much  to  be  regarded,  as  the  two  contrary  more 
formal  ones.    Or  we  may  suppose,  that  JVmtro  took  them  down. 

c  Herod.  1, 2.  $•  4-  "^  Deut.  iv.  12—15, 16. 

Q 


166  LECTURE    XIX. 

to  rppresent  by  it,  not  a  false  object  of  worship,  but 
the  Lord,  (in  the  original  it  is  Jehovah)  who  brought 
them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt;  yet  they  were  charg- 
ed with  it,  and  punished  for  it,  as  a  breach  of  their 
covenant  with  God:  and  Moses  accordingly  broke,  on 
that  occasion,  the  two  tables  of  the  Commandments, 
which  were,  on  their  part,  the  conditions  of  that  co- 
venant. °  Again,  in  after  times,  when  the  kings  of  Is- 
rael set  up  the  same  representation  of  the  same  true 
God,  at  Dan  and  Bethel,  the  Scripture  constantly 
speaks  of  it,  as  the  leading  sin,  from  which  all  the  rest 
of  their  idolatries,  and  at  last  their  utter  destruction, 
proceeded.  For,  from  worshiping  the  true  God  by  an 
image,  they  soon  came  to  worship  the  images  of  false 
gods,  too;  and  from  thence  fell  into  all  sorts  of  super- 
stition and  all  sorts  of  wickedness. 

Yet  the  Church  of  Rome  wiJl  have  it,  that  we  may 
now  very  lawfully  and  commendably  practice  what 
the  Jews  w^ere  forbidden.  But  observe;  not  only  the 
Jews,  but  the  Heathens,  also,  who  never  were  subject 
to  the  law  of  Moses,  are  condemned  in  Scripture  for 
this  mode  of  worship.  For  St.  Paul's  accusation  against 
them,  is,  that  'when  they  knew  God,  they  glorified 
him  not  as  God;  but  became  vain  in  their  imagina- 
tions; and  changed  the  glory  of  the  incorruptible 
God  into  an  image,  made  like  to  corruptible  man.'  * 
And  in  another  place  he  argues  with  the  Athenians, 
thus:  '  forasmuch  as  we  are  the  offspring  of  God,  we 
ought  not  to  think  that  the  Godhead  is  like  unto  gold 
or  silver,  or  stone,  graven  by  art  and  man's  device. 
And  the  times  of  this  ignorance  God  winked  at:  but 
now  commandeth  all  men,  every  where,  to  repent.' " 

Where  then  is,  or  can  be,  the  allowance  of  that 
image  worship  in  the  Bible,  for  which  multitudes  of 
the  Romish  communion  are  as  earnest,  as  if  it  was 
commanded  there?  Nor  is  antiquity  more  favorable 
to  it,  than  Scripture.  For  the  primitive  Christiansab- 
horred  the  very  mention  of  images:  holding  even  the 

flExod.  xxxii.  &  Rom.  i.  21,  23.  c  Acts  xvii.  29,  SO. 


LECTuui:  XIX.  167 

irade  of  making  them  to  be  utterly  unlawful.  And 
indeed  pretending  to  frame  a  likeness  of  God  the  Fa- 
ther Almighty,  '  whom  no  man  hath  ever  seen,  or 
can  sec,'"  as  some  of  that  Church  have  done,  without 
any  censuie  from  tlie  rulers  of  it,  liberal  as  they  are 
of  censures  on  otlier  occasions,  is  both  a  palpable  and 
a  heinous  breach  of  this  Commandment.  For,  though 
we  tind  in  the  Old  Testament,  that  an  angel  hath 
sometimes  appeared,  representing  his  person,  as  an 
ambassador  doth  that  of  liis  prince;  and  though  in  a 
vision  of  "the  ancient  of  days,  hisgarment  was  white 
as  snow,  and  the  hair  of  his  head  like  pure  wool;'  * 
yet  these  things  gave  tlie  Jews  no  right  then,  and 
therefore  can  give  us  none  now,  to  make  other,  or  even 
the  like  representations  of  him,  contrary  to  his  ex- 
press order. 

Our  blessed  Saviour  indeed  existed  in  a  human 
form,  but  we  have  not  the  least  knowledge  of  any  one 
part  or  feature  of  his  person.  And,  therefore,  all  at- 
tempts of  exhibiting  a  likeness  of  himare  utterly  vain. 
Besides,  he  hath  appointed  a  very  different  memorial  of 
himself,  the  sacrament  of  his  body  and  blood:  and  we 
ought  to  think  that  a  sufficient  one.  These  others  can 
serve  no  good  purpose,  but  what,  by  due  meditation, 
may  be  attained  as  well  without  them.  And  there  is 
great  and  evident  danger  of  evil  in  them,  from  that 
unhappy  proneness  of  mankind,  to  tix  their  thoughts 
and  ali(3ctions  on  sensible  objects,  instead  of  raising 
them  higher:  which  if  any  one  doth  not  feel  in  him- 
self, he  must  however  see  in  others.  But  particularly 
in  tliis  case,  long  experience  hath  given  sad  proof,  that 
from  setting  up  images  of  our  gracious  Redeemer, 
the  holy  virgin,  and  other  saints,  to  remind  persons 
of  them,  and  their  virtues,  the  world  hath  run  on  to 
pay  such  imprudent  and  extravagant  honors  to  the 
figures  themselves,  as  by  degrees  have  arisen  to  the 
grossest  idolatry. 

a  1  Tim.  vi.  16.  *  Dan.  vii.  9. 


1G8  LECTURE  XIX. 

Indeed,  some  of  the  popish  writers  tell  us,  that  thej^ 
do  not  worship  their  images.  Yet  others  of  them, 
who  have  never  been  condemned  for  it,  say  quite  the 
contrary,  that  they  do  worship  them;  and  with  the 
very  same  degree  of  worship,  which  they  pay  to  the 
persons  represented  by  them.  Nay,  their  public  au- 
thorized books,  of  prayers  and  ceremonies,  not  only 
appoint  the  crucifix  to  be  adored,  but  in  form  declare, 
that  divine  adoration  is  due  to  it.  And  accordingly 
they  petition  it,  in  so  many  words,  expressly  directed 
to  the  very  wood,  as  '  their  only  hope,  to  increase  the 
joy  and  grace  of  the  godly,  and  blot  out  the  sins  of 
the  wicked.'  '^ 

But  let  us  suppose  them  to  pay  only  an  inferior  ho- 
nor to  images,  and  to  worship  the  holy  trinity  and  the 
saints  by  them.  Having  no  ground,  or  permission  to 
pray  at  all  to  saints  departed,  they  certainly  have 
•  none  lo  use  images  for  enlivening  their  prayers.  If 
any  words  can  forbid  the  worship  of  God,  his  Son  and 
Spirit,  by  images,  this  commandment  forbids  it.  And 
if  any  excuses  or  distinctions  will  acquit  the  papists 
of  transgressing  it,  the  same  will  acquit  the  ancient 
Jews  and  Heathens  also.  For  if  many  of  the  former 
mean  only,  that  their  adoration  should  pass  through 
the  image,  as  it  were,  to  the  person  for  whom  it  was 
made;  so  did  many  of  the  pagans  plead,  that  the 
meaning  was  just  the  same  :*  yet  the  Scripture  accuses 
them  all  of  idolatry.  And  if  great  num.bers  of  the  pa- 
gans did  absolutely  pray  to  the  image  itself;  so  do 
great  numbers  of  the  papists  too:  and  some  of  their 
own  writers  honestly  confess  and  lament  it. 

But  farther:  had  they  little  or  no  regard,  as  they 
sometimes  pretend,  to  the  image;  but  only  to  the  per- 
son represented  by  it:  why  is  an  image  of  the  blessed 
virgin  suppose,  in  one  place,  so  much  more  frequented, 

a  See  Dr.  Hicke's  collection  of  controversial  discourses,  vol.  1.  p.  47. 

/>  See  a  remarkable  proof  of  this,  produced  in  an  epistle  to  Mr.  Warburton, 
concerning  the  conformitv  of  Rome,  pagan  and  papal:  printed  for  Eoberts. 
1748,  8vo.  p.  21. 


LECTURE    XIX.  169 

than  another  in  a  different  place,  and  the  prayers 
made  before  it  thought  to  have  so  much  more  effi- 
cacy? 

Upon  the  whole  therefore,  they  plainly  appear  to 
be  guilty  of  that  image-worship,  which  reason  and 
scripture  condemn.  Nor  do  they  so  much  as  allege 
either  any  command  or  express  allowance  for  it. 
And  yet  they  have  pronounced  a  curse  upon  all  who 
reject  it. 

.But  let  us  go  on,  from  the  prohibition,  to  the  rea- 
sons given  for  it  in  the  commandment.  The  first  is 
a  very  general,  but  a  very  awful  one.  '  For  the  Lord 
thy  God  is  a  jealous  God:'  not  jealous  for  himself, 
lest  he  should  suffer  for  the  follies  of  his  creatures; 
that  cannot  be:  but  jealous  for  us,  for  his  spouse  the 
Church;  lest  our  notions  of  his  nature  and  attributes, 
and  consequently  of  the  duties  which  we  owe  to  him, 
being  depraved,  and  our  minds  darkened  with  super- 
stitious persuasions,  and  fears,  and  hopes,  we  should 
depart  from  the  fidelity  which  we  have  vowed  to 
him,  and  fall  into  those  grievous  immoralities,  which 
St.  Paul,  in  the  beginning  of  his  epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans, describes  as  the  consequences  of  idolatry"^  and 
which  have  been  its  consequences  in  all  times  and 
places. 

The  second  reason  for  this  prohibition  is  more  par- 
ticular: that  God  will 'visit  the  sins  of  the  fathers 
upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  genera- 
tion of  them  that  hate  him.'  For,  observe,  worship- 
ing him  irrationally,  or  in  a  manner  which  he  hath 
forbidden,  he  interprets  to  be  hating  him:  as  it  must 
proceed,  wholly  or  in  part,  from  a  dishonourable 
opinion  of  him,  and  tend  to  spread  the  like  opinion 
amongst  others.  Now  we  are  not  to  understand  by 
this  threatening,  that  God  will  ever,  on  account  of 
the  sins  of  parents,  punish  children,  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  word,  punish^  when  they  deserve  it  not.  * 

a  Rom.  1.  21 — 32.  6  Against  this  wrong  imagination,  Cotta  ia 

cic.  de  Nat.  Leer.  1.  3,  6.  $.  38.  inveigto  vehemently. 

Q.  2 


170  LECTURE  XIX. 

But  in  the  course  of  things,  established  by  his  Provi- 
dence, it  comes  to  pass,  that  the  sins  of  one  person, 
or  one  generation,  lead  those  who  come  after,  into 
the  same,  or  other,  perhaps  greater  sins;  and  so 
bring  upon  them  double  sufferings,  partly  the  fruits 
of  their  predecessors'  faults,  partly  of  their  own. 
And  when  successive  ages  follow  one  another  in 
crimes,  besides  the  natural  bad  effects  of  them,  which 
punish  them  in  some  measure,  God  may  justly  threa- 
ten severer  additional  corrections,  than  he  would 
else  inflict  for  their  personal  transgressions:'^  both 
because  it  may  deter  men  from  propagating  wicked- 
ness down  to  their  posterity;  and  because,  if  it  doth 
not,  inveterate  evils  demand  a  rougher  cure.  Ac- 
cordingly here  the  Israelites  are  forewarned,  that  if 
they  fell  into  idolatry,  they  and  their  children  would 
fall  by  means  of  it,  into  all  sorts  of  abominations: 
and  not  only  these  would  of  course  produce  many 
mischiefs  to  both,  but  God  would  chastise  the  follow- 
ing generations  with  heavier  strokes,  for  not  taking 
warning,  as  they  ought  to  have  done,  by  the  misbe- 
haviour and  sufferings  of  the  former.  Denouncing 
this  intention  beforehand  must  influence  them,  if  any 
thing  could:  because  it  must  give  them  a  concern 
both  for  themselves,  and  their  descendants  too;  for 
whom,  next  to  themselves,  if  not  equally,  men  are 
always  interested.  And  therefore  visiting  sins  upon 
them  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation  seems  to  be 
mentioned;  because  either  the  life,  or  however  the 
solicitude,  of  a  person,  may  be  supposed  to  extend 
thus  far,  and  seldom  further. 

This  threatening  therefore  was  not  only  just,  but 
wise,  and  kind,  on  the  supposition,  which  in  general 
it  was  reasonable  to  make,  that  in  such  matters, 
children  would  imitate  their  wicked  progenitors. 
And  whenever  any  did  not;  either  their  innocence 
would  avert  the  impending  evils;  or  they  would  be 
abundantly  rewarded  in  a  future  life  for  what  the 
sins  of  others  had  brought  upon  them  in  the  preseat*^ 

a  See  Sherlock  on  Providence,  p.  382— 390. 


LECTURE    XIX.  171 

But  if  God  bath  threatened  to  punish  the  breach 
of  this  precept '  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation,' 
he  bath  promised  to  '  shew  mercy  unto  thousands,' 
that  is  so  long  as  the  world  shall  endure,  to  '  them 
that  love  him  and  keep  bis  commandments.'  To  the 
Jews  he  fulfilled  this  engagement,  as  far  as  they 
gave  him  opportunity,  by  temporal  blessings.  And 
amongst  Christians  there  is  ordinarily  a  fair  prospect, 
that  a  nation  or  a  family,  pious  and  virtuous  through 
successive  ages,  will  be  recompensed  with  increasing 
happiness  in  every  age:  which  is  a  powerful  motive, 
both  for  worshiping  God  in  purity  ourselves,  and 
educating  those,  who  are  placed  under  our  care,  to 
do  so  too.  Yet  it  must  be  acknowledged,  that  neith- 
er the  rewards  foretold,  nor  the  punishments  denoun- 
ced, in  this  commandment,  are  so  constantly  distri- 
buted on  earth  under  the  Gospel  dispensation,  as  they 
were  under  that  of  the  law.  But  still  our  maker  as 
certainly  requires,  as  ever  he  did,  since  he  '  is  a  spirit 
to  be  worshiped  in  spirit  and  in  truth i'"^  and  the  in- 
ducement to  it  is  abundantly  suflicient,  that  the  idol- 
atei's,  amongst  other  sinners, '  shall  have  their  part 
in  the  lake,  wliich  burneth  with  fire  and  brim- 
stone.'* Not  that  we  are  to  be  forward  in  applying 
so  dreadful  a  sentence  to  the  case  of  those,  whether 
christians  or  others,  who  in  this  or  any  respect,  of- 
fend through  such  ignorance  or  mistake,  as,  for 
ought  we  can  tell,  is  excusable.  May  our  heavenly 
'father  forgive  them:  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do.'  "^  But  we  should  be  very  thankful  to  him  for 
the  light,  which  he  hath  caused  to  shine  upon  us; 
and  very  careful  to  walk  in  it  as  becomes  the  '  chil- 
dren of  light,  having  no  fellowship  with  the  unfruit- 
ful works  of  darkness.'*^ 

ojohniv.  24.  ft  Rev.  ssi.  8.  cLuke  xxiiu  34- 

riEphea.  V.  8,11. 


172  LECTURE  XX. 


LECTURE    XX. 

THIRD    COJMMAND3IENT. 


The  tirst  commandment  having  provided  that  we 
should  worship  only  the  one  true  God;  and  the  se- 
cond prohibited  worshiping  him  in  a  manner  so  un- 
worthy and  dangerous,  as  by  images:  the  third  pro- 
ceeds to  direct,  that  we  preserve  a  due  reverence  to 
him  in  our  whole  conversation  and  behaviour. 
'  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God 
in  vain.'  Under  these  words  are  forbidden  several 
things  which  differ  in  their  degrees  of  guilt. 

L  The  tirst,  and  highest  offence  is,  when  we  swear 
by  the  name  of  God  falsely.  For  vanity  in  scripture, 
frequently  means  something,  which  is  not  what  it 
would  appear.  And  hence  using  God's  name,  in 
vain,  or  to  vanity,  principally  signifies,  applying  it  to 
confirm  a  falsehood.  Doing  this  deliberately,  is  one 
of  the  most  shocking  crimes  of  which  we  can  be 
guilty.  For  taking  an  oath  is  declaring  solemnly, 
that  we  know  ourselves  to  be  in  the  presence  of  God, 
and  him  to  be  witness  of  what  we  speak;  it  is  appeal- 
ing to  him,  that  our  words  express  the  very  truth  of 
our  hearts:  and  renouncing  all  title  to  his  mercy,  if 
they  do  not.  This  is  to  swear:  and  think  then  what 
it  must  be  to  swear  falsely.  In  other  sins  men  en- 
deavour to  forget  God:  but  perjury  is  daring  and 
braving  the  Almighty  to  his  very  face;  bidding  him 
take  notice  of  the  falsehood  that  we  utter,  and  do 
his  worst. 

Now  of  this  dreadful  crime  we  are  guilty,  if  ever 
we  swear,  that  we  do  not  know  or  believe  what  indeed 
we  do:  or  that  we  do  know  or  believe  what  indeed 
we  do  not;  if  ever,  being  upon  our  oaths,  we  mislead 
those,  whom  we  ought  to  inform;  and  give  any  other, 
than  the  exactest  and  fairest  account  that  we  can, 


LECTURE    XX.  1T3 

of  any  matter,  concerning  which  we  are  examined. 
Again  if  we  promise  upon  oath  to  do  a  thing  without 
firmly  designing  to  do  it;  or  if  we  promise  not  to  do 
a  thing,  without  firmly  designing  to  abstain  from  it: 
this  also  is  forswearing  ourselves.  Nay  further:  pro- 
vided the  thing,  which  we  promise,  be  lawful,  if  we 
do  not  ever  after  take  all  the  care,  that  can  be  rea- 
sonably expected,  to  make  our  promise  good,  we  are 
guilty  of  perjury;  and  of  living  in  it,  so  long  as  we 
live  in  that  neglect.  If  indeed  a  person  hath  sworn 
to  do,  what  he  thought  he  could  have  done;  and  it 
proves  afterwards  unexpectedly,  that  he  cannot; 
such  a  one  is  chargeable  only  with  mistake,  or  in- 
considerateness  at  most.  And  if  we  either  promise, 
or  threaten  any  thing,  which  we  cannot  lawfully  do:' 
making  such  a  promise  is  a  sin;  but  keeping  it  would 
be  another,  perhaps  a  greater  sin;  and  therefore 
it  innocently  may,  and  in  conscience  ought  to  be 
broken.  But  if  we  have  promised  what  we  may  law- 
fully, but  only  cannot  conveniently  perform;  we  are 
by  no  means  on  that  account  released  ifom  our  en- 
gagement: unless  either  we  were  unqualified  to  pro- 
mise, or  were  deceived  into  promising;  or  the  person 
to  whom  we  have  engaged,  voluntarily  sets  us  at  lib- 
erty: or  the  circumstancesof  the  case  be  plainly  and 
confessedly  such,  that  our  promise  was  not  original- 
ly designed  to  bind  us  in  them. 

You  see  then  what  is  perjury.  And  you  must  see, 
it  is  not  only  the  directest  and  grossest  affront  to 
God:  for  which  reason  it  is  forbidden  in  the  first  ta- 
ble of  the  ten  commandments;  but  the  most  perni- 
cious injury  to  our  fellow  creatures:  on  which  account 
you  will  find  it  again  forbidden  in  the  second  table. 
If  persons  will  assert  falsely  upon  oath:  no  one  knows 
what  to  believe;  no  one's  property  or  life  is  safe. 
And  if  persons  will  promise  falsely  upon  oath:  no 
one  can  know  whom  to  trust;  all  security  of  govern- 
ment and  human  society;  all  mutual  confidence  in 
trade  and  commerce,  in  every  relation  and  condition, 
is  utterly  at  an  end.     With  the  greatest  reason  there- 


174  LECTURE    XX. 

fore  are  perjured  wretches  abhorred  of  all  the  world. 
And  no  interest  of  our  own,  no  kuiduess  or  compas- 
sion for  other  persons,  no  turn  or  purpose  of  whatso- 
ever sort  to  be  served  by  it,  can  ever  justify  our 
swerving  at  all  from  truth,  either  in  giving  evidence, 
or  entering  into  engagements.  Nor  must  we  tiiink 
in  such  cases  to  come  off  with  equivocations,  eva- 
sions, and  quibbles:  and  imagine  it  innocent  to  de- 
ceive this  way.  On  the  contrary,  the  more  artful 
and  cunning  our  falsehoods  are,  the  more  deliberate 
and  mischievous,  and  therefore  the  wickeder,  they 
are.  'Be  not  deceived;  God  is  not  mocked:'"  and 
the  following  are  the  declarations  of  liis  sacred  word 
to  the  upright  man:  'Lord,  who  shall  dwell  in  thy 
Tabernacle,  and  rest  upon  thy  holy  hill?  He  that 
speaketh  the  truth  from  his  heart,  and  hath  used  no 
deceit  with  his  tongue:  he  that  sweareth  unto  his 
neighbour  and  disappointeth  him  not,  though  it  were 
to  his  own  hindrance.'*  But  to  the  perjured,  see- 
ing he  despiseth  the  oath,  by  breaking  the  covenant, 
thus  saith  the  Lord  God;  'As  I  live,  surely  my  oath 
that  he  hath  despised,  and  m}'  covenant  that  he  hath 
broken,  I  will  recompense  it  upon  his  head.'  "^ 

[Let  us  all  stand  in  awe  of  so  dreadful  a  threaten- 
ing, and  avoid  so  horrible  a  guilt.  Particularly  at 
present,  let  all,  who  have  sworn  allegiance  to  the 
King,  faithfully  'keep  it,  and  that  in  regard  to  the 
oath  of  God.'"  And  let  those  who  have  not  sworn, 
remember  however,  that  merely  claiming  the  pi  o- 
tection  of  a  government,  implies  some  promise  of  be- 
ing dutiful  to  it  in  return:  and  that  a  successful  re- 
bellion would  not  only  tempt  multitudes  of  our  fel- 
low subjects  to  perjury,  but  lay  our  country,  its  laws 
and  religion,  at  the  absolute  mercy  of  a  faith-break- 
ing Church.  *] 

One  thing  more  should  be  added  here;  for  it  can- 
not   well  be  mentioned  too   often,  that  next  to  false 

aGal.  vi.7.  i  Psal.  XV.  1,2,3,  5.  cEzek.  xvii.  18, 19. 

d  Eccl.  viiL  2.  e  This  paragraph  was  added   in  the  lime  of  tlie  re. 

bellion,  1745. 


LECTURE    XX.  175 

swearing,  false  speaking  and  lying,  whether  in  what 
wc  assert  or  what  we  promise,  is  a  grievous  sin,  and 
hateful  to  God  and  man.  Thougli  we  do  not  call  on 
our  maker  to  be  witness,  yet  he  is  a  witness  of  what- 
ever wc  say.  And  it  is  presumptuous  wickedness  to 
utter  an  untruth  in  the  presence  of  '  the  God  of 
truth.*''  It  is  also  at  the  same  time  very  hurtful  to 
other  persons;  and  very  foolish  with  respect  to  our- 
selves. For  they  who  will  lie,  to  conceal  their  faults, 
or  to  carry  their  ends,  are  perpetually  found  out, 
disappointed  and  ashamed,  for  the  most  part,  in  a 
very  little  while:  and  then,  forever  after,  they  are 
distrusted  and  disbelieved,  even  when  they  speak 
truth:  as  indeed  who  can  depend  upon  such,  or  would 
venture  to  employ  them?  Many  other  faults  may  be 
borne,  so  long  as  honesty  and  sincerity  last;  but  a 
failure  in  these  cannot  be  passed  over:  so  just  is  Sol- 
omon's observation:  'The  lip  of  truth  shall  be  es- 
tablished forever:  but  a  lying  tongue  is  but  for  a  mo- 
ment.'* 

2.  Another  w^ay  of  '  taking  God's  name  in  vain  ' 
is  when  \^e  swear  by  it  needlessly,  though  it  be  not 
falsely.     For  this  also  the  word  'in  vain'  signilies. 

One  way  of  doing  so,  is  by  rash  and  inconsiderate 
vows:  for  a  vow,  being  a  promise  made  solemnly  (o 
God,  partakes  of  the  nature  of  an  oath.  And  there 
may  possibly  be  sometimes  good  reasons  for  entering 
into  this  kind  of  engagement.  But  vowing  to  do 
what  there  is  no  use  of  doing,  is  trifling  with  our 
Creator:  making  unlawful  vows,  is  directly  telling 
him,  we  will  disobey  him:  making  such  without 
necessity,  as  are  difficult  to  keep,  is  leading  ourselves 
into  temptation:  and  indeed  making  any,  without 
much  thought  and  prudent  advice  first,  usually  proves 
an  unhappy  snare.  One  vow  we  have  all  made,  and 
were  bound  to  make,  that  of  our  baptism,  which  in- 
cludes every  real  good  resolution.  That  therefore 
let  us  carefully  keep  and  frequently  ratify:  and  we 
shall  scarce  have  occasion  to  make  any  more. 

a  Psal.  zxxi.  5.  J  Prov.  xii,  19. 


176  LECTURE   XX. 

Another  very  needless,  and  always  sinful,  use  of 
God's  name,  is  by  oaths,  in  common  discourse.  Too 
many  are  there,  who  fill  up  with  them  a  great  part 
of  their  most  trifling  conversation;  especially  if  ever 
so  little  warmth  rises  in  talk,  then  they  abound  in 
them.  Now  it  is  unavoidable,  but  persons,  who  are 
perpetually  swearing,  must  frequently  perjure  them- 
selves. But  were  that  otherwise:  it  is  great  irrever- 
ence, upon  every  slight  thing  we  say,  to  invoke  God 
for  a  witness;  and  mix  'his  holy  and  reverend  name"  ' 
with  the  idlest  things,  that  come  out  of  our  mouths^ 
And  what  makes  this  practice  the  more  inexcusable 
is,  that  we  cannot  have  either  any  advantage  from  it, 
or  any  natural  pleasure  in  it.  Sometimes  it  arises 
from  a  hastiness  and  impatience  of  temper;  which  is 
but  increased  by  giving  this  vent  to  it:  whereas  it  is 
every  one's  wisdom,  not  to  let  it  break  out  in  any 
way,  much  less  in  such  a  way.  But  generally  it  is 
nothing  more  than  a  silly  and  profane  custom,  incon- 
siderately taken  up:  and  there  are  the  strongest  rea- 
sons for  laying  it  down  immediately.  It  will  make 
us  disliked  and  abhorred  by  good  persons,  and  scarce 
recommend  us  to  the  very  worst.  No  person  is  the 
sooner  believed  for  his  frequent  swearing:  on  the  con- 
trary, a  modest  serious  afiirmation  is  always  much 
more  regarded.  And  if  any  one's  character  is  so 
low  that  his  word  cannot  be  taken;  he  must  think  of 
other  methods  to  retrieve  it.  For  he  will  not  at  all 
mend  matters,  by  adding  his  oath  ever  so  often  over. 
Then  if  swearing  be  affected,  as  becoming;  it  is  cer- 
tainly quite  otherwise,  in  the  highest  degree.  The 
very  phrases  used  in  it,  as  well  as  the  occasions  on 
which  they  are  used,  are  almost  constantly  absurd 
and  foolish:  and  surely  profaneness  can  never  lessen 
the  folly.  Besides  they  make  the  conversation  of 
men,  shocking  and  hellish.  They  are  acknowledged 
to  be  disrespectful  to  the  company  in  which  they  are 
used:  and  if  regard  to   their   earthly  superiors    can 

a  Psal.  exi.  9. 


LECTURE    XX.  177 

restrain  persons  from  swearing;  why  should  not  the 
reverence,  owing  to  our  heavenly  father,  do  it  much 
more  efTcctually?  But  indeed  tlie  indulgence  of  this 
sin  wears  off  by  degrees  all  sense  of  religion,  and  of 
every  thing  that  is  good. 

Justly  therefore  doth  our  Saviour  direct:  '  But  I 
say  unto  you,  swear  not  all;  neither  by  Heaven,  for 
it  is  God's  throne;  nor  by  the  earth,  for  it  is  his  foot- 
stool; neither  by  Jerusalem,  for  it  is  the  city  of  the 
great  King;  neilher  shalt  thou  swear  by  thy  head, 
for  thou  canst  not  make  one  hair  white  or  black. 
But  let  your  communication  be,  yea,  yea;  nay,  nay; 
for  whatsoever  is  more  than  these,  cometh  of  evil.' " 
That  is;  avoid,  not  only  the  grosser  oaths,  but  all  the 
silly  refinements  and  softenings  of  them,  which  men 
have  contrived,  in  hope  to  make  them  seem  innocent: 
for,  though  the  name  of  God  be  not  expressed,  yet  if 
it  be  implied,  by  mentioning  something  relating  to 
God,  instead  of  himself;  indeed  whatever  form  is  used 
to  disguise  it,  the  intent  is  the  same:  and  the  effect 
will  be,  bringing  a  sacred  obligation  into  familiarity 
and  contempt.  Keep  yourselves  therefore,  through- 
out the  whole  of  your  common  conversation,  within 
the  bounds  of  a  plain  affirmation  or  denial :  for  what- 
ever goes  beyond  these,  proceeds  from  a  bad  turn  of 
mind,  and  will  produce  bad  consequences. 

If  indeed  we  be  required  to  swear  before  a  magis- 
trate, or  public  officer,  for  the  discovery  of  truth,  and 
the  doing  of  justice,  this  is  notwithstandir^g  laAvful. 
For  our  Saviour  forbids  it  only  in  'our  communica- 
tion,' our  ordinary  discourse:  and  he  himself,  our 
great  pattern,  answered  upon  oath,  to  'the  high 
priest,  who  adjured  him  hy  the  living  God.  *  Or 
though  we  be  not  called  upon  by  law,  yet  if  some 
other  weighty  and  extraordinary  occasion  should 
oblige  us  to  call  our  maker  to  witness;  as  St.  Paul 
hath  done,  in  more  places  than  one  of  his  epistles; 
then  also  w^e  may    allowably  do    it,  provided    it    be 

a  Malth.  v.  34, 35,  36, 37.  i  Mattli.  sxvi.  63 

R 


178  LECTURE  XX.' 

always  with  sincerity  and  reverence.  For  by  oaths, 
ihus  taken,  men  are  benefited;  and  the  name  of  God 
not  profaned,  but  honoured.  But  in  our  daily  talk, 
and  communication  with  each  other,  it  is  our  Sa- 
viour's peremptory  precept,  'swear  not  all;'  a  rule  so 
evidently  right  and  important,  that  even  Heathens 
have  strictly  enjoined  and  followed  it,  to  the  shame 
of  too  many,  wlio  call  themselves  Christians. 

Together  with  common  swearing  should  be  men- 
tioned another  sin,  very  near  akin  to  it,  and  almost 
always  joined  with  it,  that  monstrous  custom  of  curs- 
ing; in  direct  contradiction  to  all  humanity,  and  to 
the  express  wordsof  Scripture, 'bless,  and  curse  not.  " 
To  wish  the  heaviest  judgments  of  God,  and  even 
eternal  damnation,  to  a  person,  for  the  slightest 
cause,  or  none  at  all;  to  wish  the  same  to  ourselves, 
if  some  trifling  thing,  that  we  are  saying  be  not  true, 
which  frequently  after  all  is  not  true;  amounts  to  the 
most  desperate  impiety,  if  people  at  all  consider 
what  they  say.  And  though  they  do  not,  it  is  even 
then  thoughtlessly  treating  God,  and  his  law^s,  and 
the  awful  sanctions  of  them,  with  contempt:  and 
blotting  out  of  their  minds  all  serious  regard  to  sub- 
jects, that  will  one  day  be  found  most  serious  things. 
'  His  delight  was  in  cursing,'  says  the  Psalmist,  '  and 
it  shall  happen  unto  him:  he  loved  not  blessing, 
therefore  shall  it  be  far  from  him.'* 

3.  Besides  the  offences  already  mentioned,  all  in- 
decent and  unfit  use  of  God's  name  in  our  discourse, 
though  it  be  not  in  swearing  or  cursing,  comes  with- 
in the  prohibition  of  this  commandment.  All  irrev- 
erent sayings,  and  even  thoughts,  concerning  his 
nature,  and  attributes,  his  actions  and  his  commands, 
fall  under  the  same  guilt;  unless  we  are  tormented 
with  such  thoughts,  whether  we  will  or  not:  for  then 
they  are  only  an  affliction,  not  a  sin.  All  sorts  of 
talk,  ridiculing,  misrepresenting,  or  inveighing 
against  religion,  or  whatever  is  connected  with  it,  in- 

a  Eom.  xii.  14.  b  Fsal.  ciz.  17. 


LECTURE     XXI.  l79 

cur  the  like  condemnation.  Nay,  even  want  of  at- 
tention in  God's  worship, '  drawing  near  to  him  with 
our  mouths,  whilst  we  remove  our  hearts  far  from 
him,'"  if  it  be  wilfully  or  carelessly  indulged,  makes 
us  chargable,  in  its  degree,  with  the  sin  of  taking 
his  name  in  vain. 

4.  Though  we  no  way  profane  his  name  ourselves; 
3'et  if  we  entice  others  to  perjury  and  falschood;.or 
provoke  them  to  rash  oaths  and  curses;  or  give  them 
any  needless  temptation  to  blaspheme  God;  to  speak 
disrespectfully,  or  think  slightly,  of  their  Maker,  or 
his  laws,  natural  or  revealed:  by  such  behaviour  also 
we  become  accessary  to  the  breach  of  this  command- 
ment, and  rank  ourselves  with  those,  whom  it  ex- 
pressly declares  '  God  will  not  hold  guiltless:'  that  is, 
will  not  acquit,  but  severely  punish. 

Let  us  therefore  be  watchful  to  preserve  continu- 
ally such  an  awe  of  the  Supreme  Being  upon  our  own 
minds,  and  those  of  all  who  belong  to  us,  as  may  on 
every  occasion  efFectually  influence  us  to  give  the 
glory  due  unto  his  name,  both  in  our  more  solemn 
addresses  to  him,  and  in  our  daily  words  and  ac- 
tions. For  '  God  is  greatly  to  be  feared  in  the  as- 
sembly of  the  Sain'io',  and  to  be  had  in  reverence  of 
all  them  that  are  round  about  him.'* 


LECTURE  XXL 

FOURTH    COMMANDJIENT. 

If  the  worship  of  God  were  left  at  large,  to  be  per- 
formed at  any  time,  too  many  would  be  tempted  to 
defer  and  postpone  it,  on  one  pretence  or  another, 
till  at  length  it  would  be  performed  at  no  time.  And 
the  'efore,  though  he  were  to  be  adored  only  by  each 
person,  separately,  and  in  private,  it  would  be  very 

a  laa.  xxix.  13.  i  Psal.  Ixiiix.  7. 


ISO  LECTURE   XXr, 

expedient  to  fix  on  some  stated  returning  seasons  for 
that  purpose.  But  reason  sliews  it  to  be  requisite, 
and  the  experience  of  all  ages  proves  it  to  be  natu- 
ral, that  as  we  are  social  creatures,  we  should  be 
social  in  religion,  as  well  as  other  things,  and  hon- 
our in  common  our  common  Maker:  that  we  should 
unite  in  giving  thanks  to  him  for  the  blessings  of  life: 
a  very  great  part  of  which  we  should  be  incapable 
of,  without  uniting:  that  we  should  join  in  praying 
forgiveness  of  the  sins,  which  we  too  often  join  in 
committing:  petition  him  together  for  the  mercies, 
which  we  have  need  of  receiving  together;  and,  by 
assembling  to  learn  and  acknowledge  our  several 
duties,  keep  alive  in  one  another,  as  well  as  our- 
selves, that  constant  regard  to  piety  and  virtue,  on 
which  our  happiness  depends,  here  and  hereafter. 

Since  therefore,  on  these  accounts,  there  must  be 
public  worship  and  instruction:  it  is  not  only  expedi- 
ent, but  necessary,  that  there  should  be  also  fixed 
times  appointed  for  it  by  sufficient  authorit}'.  And 
how  much  and  what  time  should  be  devoted  to  this 
purpose,  every  society  must  have  determined  for 
themselves,  and  would  have  found  it  hard  enough  to 
agree  in  determining,  if  God  hJul  given  no  intima- 
tion of  his  will  in  the  case.  But  happily  we  are  in- 
formed, in  the  history  of  the  creation,  that  the  ma- 
ker of  the  world,  having  finished  his  work  in  six 
days,  (which  he  could  as  easily  have  finished  in  one 
moment,  had  it  not  been  for  some  valuable  reason, 
probably  of  instruction  to  us)  'blessed  the  seventh 
day,  and  sanctified  it:'"  that  is,  appointed  every  re- 
turn of  it  to  be  religiously  kept,  as  a  solemn  memo- 
rial, that  'of  him,  and  therefore  tohim  are  all  things.'  * 
It  is  much  the  most  natural  to  apprehend,  thai  this 
appointment  took  place  from  the  time,  when  it  is 
mentioned;  from  the  time  when  the  reason  of  it  took 
place.  And  it  is  no  wonder  at  all,  that,  in  so  short 
a  history,  notice  should  not  be   taken  of  the  actual 

a  Gen.  ii.  3.  h  Rojn.  xiv36. 


LECTURE    XXr.  18 1 

observation  of  it  before  Moses:  for  notice  is  not  ta- 
ken of  it  in  500  years  after  Moses.  Yet  we  know 
of  a  certainty,  that  in  his  time,  at  least,  it  was  order- 
ed to  be  observed,  both  in  this  fourth  commandmout, 
and  in  other  parts  of  the  law,  which  direct  more  par- 
ticularly the  manner  of  keeping  it. 

The  thing,  most  expressly  enjoined  the  Jews,  in 
each  of  these  passages,  is,  resting  from  all  manner  of 
work;  and  not  suffering  their  families,  their  cattle, 
nor  even  the  strangers  that  lived  amongst  them,  to 
labour  on  that  day.  And  the  reason  of  this  rest, 
given  in  the  commandment,  as  you  have  it  in  the 
book  of  Exodus,  is,  that  '  the  Lord  rested  on  the 
seventh  day'  from  his  work  of  creation.  Not  that 
this,  or  any  thing,  could  be  a  fatigue  to  him.  For 
'  the  creator  of  the  ends  of  the  earth  fainteth  not, 
neither  is  weary.'"  But  the  expression  means,  that 
having  then  finished  the  formation  of  the  world,  he 
ceased  from  it;  and  required  men  also  to  cease  from 
their  labours  every  seventh  day;  in  memory  of  that 
fundamental  article  of  all  religion,  that  the  heavens 
and  earth  were  made,  and  therefore  are  governed, 
by  one  infinitely  wise,  powerful,  and  good  being. 
And  thus  was  the  Sabbath,  which  word  means  the 
day  of  rest,  a  sign,  as  the  Scripture  calls  it, 'between 
God  and  the  children  of  Israel;'*  a  mark  to  distin- 
guish them  from  all  worshipers  of  false  deities. 

But  besides  this  principal  reason  for  the  repose  of 
every  seventh  day,  two  others  are  mentioned  in  the 
law:  that  it  might  remind  them  of  that  deliverance 
from  heavy  bondage,  which  God  hath  granted  them; 
'  remember,  that  thou  wast  a  servant  in  the  land  of 
Egypt,  and  that  the  Lord  brought  thee  out  thence: 
therefore  he  commanded  thee  to  keep  the  Sabbath 
daj:'«  and  likewise  that  their  servants  and  cattle 
might  not  be  worn  out  with  incessant  toil;  'that 
thine  ox  and  thine  ass  may  rest;   and    the   son  of 

a  Tsa.  xl.  28.  b  Esod.  ixxi.  13,  17.     Ezek.  ix.  12,  2(K 

c  Deut.  V.  15. 

R2 


1 82  LECTURE  XXI. 

thine  handmaid,  and  the  stranger,  may  be  refreshed/  ^ 
Such  mercy  indeed  is  little  more  than  common  pru- 
dence: but  there  are  in  the  world,  multitudes  of  hard 
hearted  wretches,  who  would  pay  small  regard  to 
that  consideration,  were  they  left  to  their  own  lib- 
erty. 

Now  merely  abstaining  from  common  work  on  this 
day,  in  obedience  to  God's  command,  for  such  re^ 
ligious  and  moral  ends  as  these,  was  undoubtedly 
sanctifying,  or  keeping  it  holy.  But  then  we  are 
not  to  suppose  that  the  leisure,  thus  provided  for 
men,  was  to  be  thrown  away  just  as  they  pleased, 
instead  of  being  usefully  employed.  God  directed 
the  Jews:  'Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thy  soul  and  with  all  thy  might;  and  the  words, 
which  I  command  thee  this  day,  shall  be  in  thy 
heart;  and  thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently  unto  thy 
children;  and  shalt  talk  of  them,  when  thou  sittcstin 
thine  house,  and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way, 
and  when  thou  liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest  up.'  * 
Now,  as  he  required  them  to  attend  so  constantly  to 
these  duties;  he  could  not  but  expect,  they  should  at- 
tend more  especially  to  them  on  that  day,  when  the 
great  foundation  of  ail  duty,  his  creating  the  world, 
was  appointed  to  be  commemorated;  and  when  they 
had  nothing  to  take  off  their  thoughts  from  what  they 
owed  to  God  their  maker.  There  was  a  peculiar 
sacrifice  appointed  for  that  day;  there  is  a  peculiar 
Psalm  composed  for  it,  the  ninety-second:  and  these 
things  are  surely  further  intimations  to  us,  that  it 
must  have  been  a  time,  peculiarly  intended  for  the 
offering  up  of  prayers  and  thanksgivings  to  Ileaveru 

Few  indeed,  or  none,  of  God's  laws  were  well  ob- 
served in  the  days  of  the  Old  Testament.  But  still, 
as  the  priests  and  Levites  were  dispersed  through 
the  Jewish  nation  that  they  might  teach  the  people 
religion;  so  we  read,  that  in  good  times  they  did 
teach  it  accordingly:  and  when  could  this  be,  but  on 

a  Esod.  xxiii.  12.  b  Dcut.  vi.  5,  6,  7. 


LECTURE      XXI,  183 

the  Sabbath  day?  We  see  it  was  the  custom  of  re- 
ligious persons,  on  that  day,  to  resort  to  the  prophets, 
that  were  in  Israel;  doubtless  to  hear  the  word  of 
God  from  their  mouths."  We  see  public  happiness 
promised  on  this  condition,  that  men  should  '  honour 
the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord,  not  doing  their  own  ways, 
nor  finding  tlieir  own  pleasure,  nor  speaking  their 
own  words/*  We  see  absolute  ruin  threatened  for 
the  profanation  of  it.  '^  We  see  a  time  foretold,  when 
'from  one  Sabbath  to  another  all  llesh  should  come 
to  worship  before  the  Lord.'*^  And  in  consequence 
of  this,  when  their  captivity  had  taught  the  Jews  a 
stricter  regard  to  their  duty.  Synagogues,  and  houses 
of  prayer,  were  erected  '  in  every  City:'  where  the 
maker  of  all  things  was  publicly  adored,  and  his  law 
'read  and  preached,  every  Sabbath  day.'  * 

Such  was  the  state  of  things,  when  our  Saviour 
came  into  the  world:  whose  religion  being  intended 
for  all  mankind  equally,  the  deliverance  from  Egyp- 
tian bondage,  in  which  the  Jews  alone  were  con- 
cerned, was  mentioned  no  longer  in  the  divine  laws: 
but  instead  of  the  commemoration  of  this,  was  substi- 
tuted that  of  the  redemption  of  the  world,  from  the 
dominion  and  punishment  of  sin;  which  our  blessed 
Redeemer  accomplished  by  his  death,  and  proved  him- 
self to  have  accomplished  by  his  resurrection.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  first  day  of  the  week,  being  the  day  of 
his  resurrection,  was  appointed,  in  thankful  remem- 
brance of  it  for  the  time  of  public  worship  amongst 
Christians,  and  therefore  is  called  by  St.  John,  'the 
Lord's  day;'-^  though  in  common  language  it  be  more 
usually  called  Sunday;  as  it  was  even  before  our  Sa- 
viour's time,  and  may  be  for  a  better  reason  since, 
because  on  it  Christ,  the  Son  of  Righteousness,  arose.. 
Accordingly  some  of  the  earliest  fathers  give  it  that 
name. 

And  that  no  one  may  doubt  the  lawfulness  of  this 
change  of  the  day;  it  plainly  appears,  from  severed 

a  2  Kings  iv.  23.  b  Isa.  Iviii.  13,  14.  c  Jcr.  xvii.  27. 

<i  Isa.  Ixvi.  23.  «Actsxv.21.  /  Rev.  i.  10- 


184  LECTURE    XXI. 

passages  of  St.  Paul,  that  we  are  bound  to  observe 
the  daj  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath:  and  it  still  more 
plainly  appears,  in  the  Scripture  history  of  the  Apos- 
tles, that  they  did  observe,  and  direct  the  observa- 
tion of  our  present  Christian  Sabbath;  as  the  whole 
Church  hath  constantly  done  since,  from  their  times 
to  this,  though  it  doth  not  appear,  that  they  called 
it  the  Sabbath  day,  for  many  hundreds  of  years.  One 
day  in  seven  being  still  kept,  the  memory  of  the  cre- 
ation is  as  well  preserved,  and  the  intent  of  this  com- 
mandment as  fully  answered,  as  before:  and  that  one 
day  in  seven  being  chosen,  on  which  our  Saviour  rose 
again,  the  memory  of  the  redemption  wrought  by 
him,  and  called  in  Scripture  '  a  new  creation,'"  is,  in 
the  properest  manner,  as  well  as  with  the  greatest 
reason,  perpetuated  along  with  the  former. 

The  day  being  then  thus  fixed,  which  we  ought  to 
keep  holy;  it  remains  to  consider  how  it  ought  to  be 
kept.     And, 

1.  It  must  be  a  day  of  rest,  in  order  to  commemo- 
rate God's  resting,  as  the  Scripture  expresses  it,  'from 
all  his  work,  which  he  created  and  made;**  and  to 
allow  that  ease  and  refreshment,  which,  with  so  great 
humanity,  the  commandment  requires  should  be 
given,  not  only  to  servants,  but  to  the  very  cattle. 
Besides,  it  cannot  be  a  day  of  religion  to  mankind, 
without  such  vacation  from  the  ordinary  labours  of 
life,  as  may  give  sufficient  leisure  to  distinguish  it  by 
exercises  of  piety.  But  then,  as  Christians  are  not 
under  a  dispensation  so  rigorous  in  outward  observan- 
ces, as  that  of  Moses;  they  are  not  bound  to  so  strict 
and  scrupulous  a  rest,  as  the  Jews  were.  Though, 
indeed,  the  Jews  themselves  became,  at  last,  much 
more  scrupulous  in  this  matter,  than  they  needed; 
and  are  accordingly  reproved  by  our  blessed  Saviour: 
from  whom  we  learn  this  general  rule,  that '  the  Sab- 
bath was  made  for  man,  not  man  for  the  Sabbath:'  " 
and  therefore  all  works  of  great  necessity,  or  great 

a  2  Cor.  v .  17.     Gal.  vi.  15.  b  Gen.  ii.  3.  c  Mark  ii.  27- 


LECTURE  xxr.  185 

goodness  and  mercy,  if  they  cannot  be  deferred  to 
another  time,  be  they  ever  so  laborious,  may  very 
nllowably  be  done  then.  Only  so  far  as  the  public 
wisdom  of  the  laws  of  the  land  hath  restrained  us, 
we  ought  certainly  to  restrain  ourselves,  even  from 
such  things,  as,  in  our  private  opinion,  we  might 
otherwise  think  innocent.  As  to  matters  of  less  la- 
bour, what  propriety  and  decency,  and  reasonable 
convenience  require,  we  surely  need  not  omit.  And 
what  the  practice  of  the  more  religious  and  consid- 
erate part  of  those,  amongst  whom  we  live,  allows, 
hath  without  question  no  small  title  to  our  favourable 
opinion.  But  the  liberties,  taken  by  thoughtless  or 
profane  persons,  are  not  of  any  authority  in  the  least. 
And  the  safest  general  rule  to  go  l)y,  is  to  omit  what- 
ever may  be  sinful,  and  is  needless:  and  neither  tcr 
require,  nor  suffer,  those  who  belong  to  us,  to  do,  on 
this  day,  what  we  apprehend  is  unlawful  to  do  our- 
selves. 

2.  A  reasonable  part  of  our  day  of  holy  rest,  must 
be  employed  in  the  public  worship  of  God.  ThiSy 
you  have  seen,  the  Jews  understood  to  be  requisite 
on  their  Sabbath:  and  the  earliest  accounts,  which 
we  have  of  ours,  intbrm  us,  that '  on  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  the  disciples  came  together  to  break 
bread:'"  which  means  to  celebrate  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. That  with  this  was  joined  '  the  Apostle's  doc- 
trine and  prayer,'  we  learn  from  another  place  of  the 
same  book  of  Scripture.*  And  that  every  Lord's 
day  was  dedicated  to  the  public  offices  of  piety,  the 
history  of  the  Church  fully  shews  from  the  begin- 
ning. To  strengthen  the  obligation  of  attending  on 
these  offices,  the  laws  of  the  land  also  enjoin  it.  And 
as  all  persons  need  instruction  in  their  duty  both  to 
God  and  man,  and  the  generality  have  scarce  any 
other  season  for  it,  than  the  leisure  of  the  Sunday; 
if  this  most  valuable  time,  be  either  taken  from  them, 
or  thrown  away  by  them,  they  must  become  ignorant 

a  Acts  XX.  7.  b  Acts  ii.  42- 


186    -  LECTURE  XXI. 

and  vicious;  and  of  consequence  miserable  in  this 
world  and  the  next.  How  wicked  then,  and  how 
unwise,  is  it,  either  to  throw  contempt  on  such  an 
institution,  or  on  frivolous  pretences  to  neglect  im- 
proving by  it! 

3.  Besides  assembling  in  the  Church  on  the  Lord's 
day,  every  one  should  employ  some  reasonable  part 
of  it  in  the  private  exercises  of  piety ;  in  thinking  over 
their  past  behaviour,  confessing  their  faults  to  God, 
and  making  prudent  resolutions  against  them  for  the 
future;  in  praying  for  the  mercies,  which  they  more 
especially  want,  and  returning  thanks  for  the  bless- 
ings, with  v/hich  providence  hath  favoured  them;  in 
cultivating  a  temper  of  humanity;  in  doing  acts  of 
forgiveness,  and  setting  apart  something  according 
to  their  ability,  for  acts  of  charity;  (for  which  last 
St.  Paul  hath  particularly  recommended  this  time:"  ) 
and  in  seriously  considering  at  home,  whatever  they 
have  heard  in  God's  house.  For  our  public  religion 
will  soon  degenerate  into  a  useless  form,  unless  we 
preserve  and  enliven  the  spirit  of  it,  by  such  means 
as  these,  in  private:  to  which  they,  above  all  per- 
sons, are  bound  on  the  Lord's  day,  who  either  have 
little  leisure  for  them  on  others,  or  make  little  use 
of  it. 

When  once  persons  have  brought  themselves  to 
spend  so  much  of  the  Sunday  as  is  fitting  in  this 
manner;  it  will  then,  and  not  before,  be  time  for 
them  to  ask,  how  the  remainder  of  it  may  be  spent. 
For  it  is  a  very  bad  sign  to  be  careless  of  observing 
what  is  commanded;  and  zealous  of  extending  to  the 
utmost,  what  at  best  is  only  permitted.  Over-great 
strictness  however  must  be  avoided.  And  therefore 
decent  civility  and  friendly  conversation,  may  both 
innocently  and  usefully  have  a  place  in  the  vacant 
part  of  our  Lord's  day:  of  which  it  is  really  one  valu- 
able benefit,  that  it  gives  even  the  lowest  persons  an 
opportunity  of  appearing  to  each  other  in  the  most 

a  1  Cor.  svi.  2. 


LECTURE    XXI.  187 

agreeable  light  thej  can,  and  thus  promotes  nnulual 
good  will.  Nor  is  it  necessary  at  all  to  banish  cheerful- 
ness from  our  conversation  on  this  day;  which  being 
a  festival,  though  a  religious  one,  we  should  partake 
of  all  God's  blessings  upon  it  with  joyful  hearts. 
But  then  such  instances  of  freedom  and  levity,  in 
talk  and  behaviour,  as  would  scarce  be  proper  at 
any  time,  arc  doubly  improper  at  this:  and  tend  very 
fatally  to  undo  whatever  good  the  preceding  part  of 
the  day  may  have  done. 

And  as  to  taking  further  liberties,  of  diversions  and 
amusements,  though  they  are  not  in  express  words 
forbidden,  for  the  desire  of  them  is  not  supposed,  in 
the  word  of  God;  yet  by  the  laws  both  of  Church 
and  Slate,  they  are.  And  what  need  is  there  for 
them, or  what  good  use  of  them?  If  persons  are  so 
vehemently  set  upon  these  things,  that  they  are  un- 
easy to  be  so  much  as  one  day  in  seven  without  them; 
it  is  high  time,  that  they  should  bring  themselves  to 
more  moderation,  by  exercising  some  abstinence 
from  them.  And  if  they  are  at  all  indifferent  about 
them,  surely  they  should  consider,  what  must  be  the 
effect  of  introducing  and  indulging  them:  what  of- 
fence and  uneasiness  these  things  give  the  more  se- 
rious and  valuable  part  of  the  world;  what  comfort 
and  countenance  to  the  unthinking  and  irreligious 
part:  what  a  dangerous  example  to  the  lower  part: 
what  encouragement  they  afford  to  extravagance  and 
the  mad  love  of  pleasure:  what  a  snare  they  place  in 
the  way  of  all,  that  think  them  unlawful;  and  yet 
will  thus  be  tempted  to  these  liberties  first,  and  then 
to  others,  against  their  consciences:  and  to  add  no 
more,  how  unhappily  they  increase  the  appearance 
(which,  without  them,  God  knows,  would  be  much 
too  great)  of  religion  being  slighted  and  disregarded, 
especially  by  the  upper  part  of  the  world,  who  should 
be  the  great  patterns  of  it. 

And  if  this  be  the  case  of  merely  unseasonable 
diversions;  imprudent  and  unlawful  ones  are  still 
more   blamablt^'On  this  day:  but    most   of  all,   that 


188  LECTURE    XXII. 

crying  sin  of  debauchery  and  intemperance,  which 
perverts  it  from  the  service  of  God,  to  the  service  of 
the  Devil;  and  leads  persons  more  directly  than  al- 
most any  thhig  else,  to  utter  destruction  of  body  and 
soul.  Therei'ore  let  us  be  careful,  first  to  guard  our- 
selves against  these  transgressions,  then  to  keep  our 
children,  servants,  and  dependents  from  the  like,  if 
wc  make  any  conscience  of  doing  well  by  them,  or 
would  have  any  prospect  of  comfort  in  them.  Nor 
let  us  think  it  sufiicient,  to  restrain  them  from  spend- 
ing the  day  ill:  but  to  the  best  of  our  power  and  un- 
derstanding, encourage  and  assist  them  to  spend  it 
well.  And  God  grant,  we  may  all  employ  in  so  right 
a  manner,  the  few  Sabbaths  and  few  days,  which 
we  Iiave  to  come  on  earth;  that  wt;  may  enter,  at  the 
conclusion  of  them,  into  that  eternal  Sabbath, '  that 
rest,  which  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God,'"  in 
Heaven. 


LECTURE  XXII. 

THE    FIFTH    C03IMANDMENT. 
PART     I  . 

Having  explained  the  precepts  of  the  first  table, 
which  set  forth  the  duty  of  men  to  God;  I  now  come 
to  those  of  the  second,  which  express  our  several  ob- 
ligations one  to  another. 

Now  the  whole  law,  concerning  these  matters,  'is 
briefly  comprehended,'  as  St.  Paul  very  justly  ob- 
serves, '  in  this  one  saying,  thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bour as  thyself.'*  Our  neighbour,  is  every  one,  with 
whom  we  have  at  any  time  any  concern,  or  on  whose 
welfare  our  actions  can  have  any  influence.  For 
whoever  is  thus  within  our  reach,  is  in  the  mostimpor- 

o  Heb.  iv.  3,  9.  b  Rr.^-.  xiii.  9. 


LECTURE  xxn.  189 

tant  sense  near  to  us,  however  distant  in  other  res- 
pects. To  '  love  our  neighbor,'  is  to  bear  him  good 
will,  which  of  course  will  dispose  us  to  think  favorably 
of  him,  and  behave  properly  to  him.  And  to  '  love  him 
as  ourselves,  is  to  have  not  only  a  real,  but  a  strong 
and  active  good  will  towards  him;  with  a  tenderness 
for  his  interests,  duly  proportioned  to  that  which  we 
naturally  feel  for  our  own.  Such  a  temper  would 
most  powerfully  restrain  us  from  every  thing  wrong, 
and  prompt  us  to  every  thing  right;  and,  therefore,  is 
the  '  fulfilling  of  the  law,''  so  far  as  it  relates  to  our 
mutual  behaviour. 

But  because,  on  some  occasions,  we  may  either  not 
see,  or  not  confess  we  see,  what  is  right,  and  what 
otherwise;  our  Saviour  hath  put  the  same  duty  in  a 
light  somewhat  different,  which  gives  the  safest,  and 
fullest,  and  clearest  direction  for  practice,  that  any 
one  precept  can  give.  '  All  things  whatsoever  ye 
would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  even  so  do  ye 
unto  them.'  *  Behaving  properly  depends  on  judging 
truly;  and  that,  in  cases  of  any  doubt,  depends  on 
hearing  with  due  attention  both  sides.  To  our  own 
side  we  never  fail  attending.  The  rule  therefore  is, 
give  the  other  side  the  same  attention,  by  supposing 
it  your  own;  and  after  considering  carefully  and  fair- 
ly, what,  if  it  were  indeed  your  own,  you  should  not 
only  desire,  (for  desires  may  be  unreasonable,)  but 
think  you  had  an  equitable  claim  to,  and  well-ground- 
ed expectation  of,  from  the  other  party,  that  do  in 
regard  to  him.  Would  we  but  honestly  take  this 
method,  our  mistakes  would  be  so  exceeding  {ew,  and 
slight  and  innocent,  that  well  might  our  blessed  Lord 
add,  'for  this  is  the  law  and  the  prophets.' 

Yet,  after  all,  there  might  be  difficulty  sometimes, 
especially  to  some  persons,  in  the  application  of  a 
rule  so  verj-  general.  And  therefore  we  have,  in  the 
Commandments,  the  reciprocal  duties  of  man  to  man 
branched  out  into  six  particulars:   the  first  of  which, 

a  Eom.  xiiL  10.  i  Matth.  vii.  12. 

S 


190     '  LECTURE    XXII. 

contained  in  tne  fifth  Commandment,  relates  to  the 
mutual  obligations  of  superiors  and  inferiors:  the  rest 
to  those  points  in  which  all  men  are  considered  as 
equals. 

It  is  true,  the  precept  now  to  be  explained,  men- 
tions only  one  kind  of  superiors.  '  Thou  shalt  honor 
thy  father  and  thy  mother.'  But  the  case  of  other 
superiors  is  so  like  that  of  fathers,  that  most  of  them 
have  occasionally  the  very  name  of  father  given 
them  inmost  languages;  and  therefore  the  regard  due 
to  them,  also,  may  be  very  properly  comprehended, 
and  laid  before  you,  under  the  same  head.  It  is  like- 
wise true,  that  the  duty  of  the  inferior  alone  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  Commandment;  but  the  corresponding 
duty  of  the  superior  is,  at  the  same  time,  of  necessity 
implied:  for  which  reason  I  shall  discourse  of  both; 
beginning  with  the  mutual  obligations  of  children 
and  parents,  properly  so  called,  which  will  be  a  suffi- 
cient employment  for  the  present  time. 

Now  the  dut}"-  of  children  to  their  parents  is  here 
expressed  by  the  word  honor,  which  in  common  lan- 
guage signifies  a  mixture  of  love  and  respect,  produc- 
ing due  obedience;  but  in  Scripture  language  it  im- 
plies further,  maintenance  and  support  when  wanted. 

1.  Love  to  those,  of  whose  flesh  and  blood  we  are, 
is  what  nature  dictates  to  us,  in  the  very  first  place. 
Children  have  not  only  received  from  their  parents,  as 
instruments  in  the  hand  of  God,  the  original  of  their 
being;  but  the  preservation  of  it  through  all  the  years 
of  helpless  infancy,  which  the  needful  care  of  them 
gave  much  trouble, took  up  much  time,  required  much 
expense;  all  which,  parents  usually  go  through  with 
so  cheerful  a  diligence,  and  so  self-denying  a  tender- 
ness, that  no  return  of  aflfection,  on  the  children's  part, 
can  possibly  repay  it  to  the  full;  though  children's  af- 
fcetion  is  what,  above  all  things,  makes  parents  happy. 
Then,  as  life  goes  on,  it  is  their  parents  that  give  or 
procure  for  them  such  instruction  of  all  kinds,  as  qual- 
ifies them,  both  to  do  well  in  this  world,  and  be  for 
ever  blessed  in  another;  that  watch  over  them  con 


LECTURE   XXII.  191 

tinually  with  never-ceasing  attention,  consulting  their 
inclinations  in  a  multitude  of  obliging  instances,  and 
bearing  with  their  perverseness  in  a  multitude  of  pro- 
voking ones;  kindly  restraining  them  from  a  thous- 
and pernicious  follies,  into  which  they  would  other- 
wise fall;  and  directing  their  heedless  footsteps  into 
the  right  way,  encouraging,  rewarding,  and,  which  in- 
deed is  no  less  a  benefit,  correcting  them  also,  as  the 
case  requires;  full  of  solicitude  all  the  while  for  their 
happiness,  and  consuming  themselves  with  labor  and 
thoughtfulness  for  their  dear  objects,  to  improve,  sup- 
port, and  advance  tliem  in  their  lives,  and  provide  for 
them  at  their  deaths.  Even  those  parents,  who  per- 
form these  duties  but  imperfectly,  who  perhaps  do 
some  very  wrong  things,  do  notwithstanding,  almost  all 
of  them  so  many  right  and  meritorious  ones;  that 
tliough  the  more  such  they  do,  the  better  they  should 
be  loved;  yet  they  that  do  least,  do  enough  to  be  lo- 
ved sincerely  for  it,  as  long  as  they  live.  '^ 

2.  And  with  love  must  ever  be  joined,  secondly, 
due  respect,  inward  and  outward.  For  parents  are 
not  only  the  benefactors,  but  in  rank,  the  betters, 
and  in  right  the  governors  of  their  children;  whose 
dependence  is  upon  them,  in  point  of  interest,  gener- 
all}';  in  point  of  duty,  always.  They  ought  therefore 
to  think  of  them  with  great  reverence,  and  treat 
them  with  every  mark  of  submission,  in  gesture,  in 
speech,  in  the  whole  of  their  behaviour;  which  the 
practice  of  wise  and  good  persons  hath  established, 
as  proper  instances  of  filial  regard.  And  though  the 
parents  be  mean  in  station,  or  low  in  understanding; 
still  the  relation  continues,  and  the  duty  that  belongs 
to  it.  Nay,  suppose  they  be  faulty  in  some  part  of 
their  conduct  or  character,  yet  children  should  be 
very  backward  to  see  this;  and  it  can  very  seldom  be 
allowable  for  tliem  to  shew  that  they  see  it:  from  the 
world  they  should  always  conceal  it,  as  far  as  they 
can:  for  it  is  shocking  beyond  measure  in  them  to 

a  See  Xenoplion's  Memoirs  of  Socrates,  1. 2.  c. 


192  EECTURE  xxir. 

publish  it.  And  if  ever  any  thing  of  this  nature  must 
be  mentioned  to  the  parents  themselves,  which  noth- 
ing but  great  necessity  can  warrant  or  excuse;  it 
should  be  with  all  possible  gentleness  and  modesty, 
and  the  most  real  concern  at  being  obliged  to  so  un- 
natural an  office. 

3.  Love  and  respect  to  parents  will  always  produce 
obedience  to  them:  a  third  duty  of  the  highest  im- 
portance. Children,  for  a  considerable  time,  are  ut- 
terly unqualified  to  govern  themselves;  and  so  long 
as  this  continues  to  be  the  case,  must  be  absolutely 
and  implicitly  governed  by  those,  who  alone  can 
claim  a  title  to  it.  As  they  grow  up  to  the  use  of  un- 
derstanding, indeed,  reason  should  be  gradually  mixed 
with  authority,  in  every  thing  that  is  required  of 
them.  But  at  the  same  time,  children  should  observe, 
what  they  may  easily  find  to  be  true  in  daily  instan- 
ces, that  they  are  apt  to  think  they  know  how  to  di- 
rect themselves,  much  sooner  than  they  really  do  5 
and  should  therefore  submit  to  be  directed  by  their 
friends  in  more  points,  and  for  a  longer  time,  than 
perhaps  they  would  naturally  be  tempted  to  wish. — 
Suppose,  in  that  part  of  your  lives  which  is  already 
past,  you  had  your  own  way  in  every  thing,  what 
would  have  been  the  consequences?  You  yourselves 
must  see,  very  bad  ones.  Why,  other  persons  see, 
what  you  will  see  also  in  time,  that  it  would  be  full  as 
bad,  were  you  to  have  your  way  now.  And  what  all 
who  are  likely  to  know,  agree  in,  you  should  believe, 
and  submit  to.  Your  parents  and  governors  have  at 
least  more  knowledge  and  experience,  if  they  have 
no  more  capacity,  than  you.  And  the  trouble  which 
they  take,  and  the  concern  which  they  feel  about 
you,  plainly  shew  that  your  good  is  the  thing  which 
they  have  at  heart.  The  only  reason  why  they  do 
not  indulge  you  in  the  particulars  that  you  wish,  is, 
that  they  see  it  would  hurt  you.  And  it  is  a  dreadful 
venture  for  you,  to  think,  as  yet,  of  trusting  yourselves. 
Trust  therefore  to  those,  whom  you  have  all  manner 
of  reason  to  trust;  and  obey  them  willingly,  who  bj 


LECTURE  xxir.  193 

the  laws  of  God  and  man,  have  a  right  to  rule  you: 
and  generally  speaking,  a  power  to  make  you  obev 
at  last,  be  you  ever  so  unwilling. 

Not  that  children  are  bound  to  obedience  in  all 
things  without  exception.  Should  a  parent  command 
them  to  lie,  to  steal,  to  commit  any  wickedness;  God 
commands  the  contrary;  and  he  is  to  be  obeyed,  not 
man.  Or  should  a  parent  command  any  thing  of  con- 
sequence, directly  opposite  to  tiie  laws  of  the  land, 
and  the  injunctions  of  public  authority;  here  the  ma- 
gistrate, being  the  superior  power  in  all  things  that 
confessedly  belong  to  his  jurisdiction,  is  to  be  obeyed, 
rather  than  the  parent,  who  ought  himself  to  be  sub- 
ject to  the  magistrate.  "  Or,  if,  in  other  points,  a  pa- 
rent should  require  what  was  both  very  evidently, 
and  very  greatly,  unsuitable  to  a  child's  condition  and 
station:  or  had  a  clear  tendency  to  make  him  misera- 
ble; or  would  be  certainly  and  considerably  prejudi- 
cial to  him  through  the  remainder  of  his  life:  where 
the  one  goes  so  far  beyond  his  just  bounds,  the  other 
may  allowably  excuse  himself  from  complying.  Only 
one  case  must  be  both  so  plain,  and  withal  of  such 
moment  as  may  justify  him,  not  only  in  his  own  judg- 
ment, which  may  easily  be  prejudiced,  but  in  that  of 
every  considerate  person,  whom  he  hath  opportunity 
of  consulting,  and  in  the  general, opinion  of  mankind. 
And  even  then,  the  refusal  must  be  accompanied 
with  the  greatest  decency  and  humility;  and  the 
strictest  care  to  make  amends,  by  all  instances  of 
real  duty,  for  this  one  seeming  want  of  duty. 

In  proportion  as  young  persons  approach  to  that 
age,  when  the  law  allows  them  to  be  capable  of  gov- 
erning themselves,  they  become  by  degrees  less  and 
less  subject  to  the  governmentof  their  parents;  espe- 
cially in  smaller  matters:  for,  in  the  more  important 
concerns  of  life,  and  above  all,  in  the  very  important 
one  of  marriage,  not  only  daughters,  concerning  whom 
the  very  phrase  of  '  giving  them  in  marriage,'  shews, 

a  See  Taylor's  Elements  of  Civil  Law,  p.  387,  338,  389. 
S2 


194  LECTURE  xxir. 

that  they  are  not  to  give  themselves  as  they  please; 
but  sons,  too,  should  have  all  possible  regard  to  the 
authority,  the  judgment,  the  blessing,  the  comfort  of 
those  to  whom  they  owe  every  thing.  And  even  after 
they  are  sent  out  into  the  world,  to  stand  on  their 
own  bottom,  still  they  remain  forever  bound,  not  to 
slight,  or  willingly  to  grieve  them;  but  in  all  proper 
affairs,  to  consult  with  them,  and  hearken  to  them,  as 
far  as  it  can  be  at  all  expected,  in  reason  or  gratitude, 
that  they  should. 

4.  The  last  thing,  which  in  Scripture  the  phrase,  of 
honoring  parents  comprehends,  is  affording  them  de- 
cent relief  and  support,  if  they  are  reduced  to  want 
it.  For  thus  our  Saviour  explains  the  word,  in  his 
reproof  of  the  pharisees,  for '  making  this  Command- 
ment of  no  elFect  by  their  tradition.  God  command- 
ed, honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother:  but  ye  say, 
whosoever  shall  say  to  his  father  or  mother,  it  is  a  gift, 
by  whatsoever  thou  mightest  be  profited  by  me  •.'"that 
is,  what  should  have  relieved  you,  I  have  devoted  to 
religious  uses;  whosoever  should  say  this,  '  and  hon- 
oureth  not  his  father  or  his  mother,  he  shall  be  free.'" 
In  St.  Mark  it  is,  'ye  suffer  hun  no  more  to  do  ought 
for  his  father  or  his  mother.'  *  And  in  other  places 
of  Scripture,  besides  this,  honoring  a  person  signifies 
contributing  to  his  maintenance:  as  1  Tim.  v.  17,  18. 
'  Let  the  elders  that  rule,  be  counted  worthy  of  dou- 
ble honor;  especially  they  who  labor  in  the  word  and 
docrine;  for  the  Scripture  saith,the  laborer  is  worthy 
of  his  reward,' 

How  worthy  parents  are  of  this,  as  well  as  the  oth- 
er sorts  of  honor,  when  they  need  it,  sufficiently  ap- 
pears from  all  that  hath  been  said.  If  they  deserve 
to  be  loved  and  respected,  surely  they  are  not  to  be 
left  exposed  to  distress  and  want,  by  those  whom  ihej 
have  brought  into  life;  and  for  whom  they  have  done 
so  much:  but  children,  even  if  they  are  poor,  should 
both  be  diligent  in  working,  and  provident  in  saving 

a  Matth.  xv.  4,  5,  6.  b  Mark  vii.  12. 


LECTURE  XXII.  195 

to  keep  their  helpless  parents  from  extremities:  and 
if  they  are  in  competenly  good  circumstances,  should 
allow  them  a  liberal  share  of  the  plenty,  which  they 
enjoy  themselves.  Accordingly  St.  Paul  directs,  that 
both  '  children  and  nephews,'  that  is,  grand-children, 
for  so  the  word  nephew  always  means  in  Scripture, 
should  '  learn  tirst  to  shew  piety  at  home,  and  to  re- 
quite their  parents:  for  that  is  good  and  acceptable 
before  God.' "  Indeed  nature,  as  well  at  Christianity, 
enjoins  it  so  strongly,  that  the  whole  world  cries  out 
shame,  where  it  is  neglected.  And  the  same  reason, 
which  reqires  parents  to  be  assisted  in  their  necessi- 
ties, requires  children  also  to  attend  upon  them,  and 
to  minister  to  them,  with  vigilant  assiduity  and  tender 
aflfection,  in  their  infirmities;  and  to  consult,  on  every 
occasion,  their  desires,  their  peace,  their  ease.  And 
they  should  consider  both  what  they  contribute  to 
their  support,  and  every  other  instance  of  regard 
which  they  shew  them,  not  as  an  alms,  given  to  an 
inferior;  but  as  a  tribute  of  duty,  paid  to  a  superior. 
For  which  reason  perhaps  it  may  be,  that  relieving 
them  is  mentioned  in  Scripture  under  the  notion  of 
honoring  them. 

One  thing  more  to  be  observed,  is,  that  all  these 
duties  of  children  belong  equally  to  both  parents:  the 
mother  being  as  expressly  named,  as  the  father,  in 
the  Commandment;  and  having  the  same  right  in 
point  of  reason.  Only,  if  contrary  orders  are  given 
by  the  two  parents  to  the  child;  he  is  bound  to  obey 
that  parent  rather,  whom  the  other  is  bound  to  obey, 
also:  but  still  preserving  to  each  all  due  reverence: 
from  which  nothing,  not  even  the  command  of  either, 
can  discharge  him.  ^ 

And  now  I  proceed  to  tlie  duties  of  parents  to  their 
children;  on  which  there  is  much  less  need  to  enlarge 
than  on  tlie  other.  For  not  only  parents  have  more 
understanding  to  know  their  duty,  and  stronger  affec- 
tions to  prompt   them  to  do  it;  but  indeed,  a  great 

a  1  Tira.  v.  4.     b  Pietas  parentibus,  etsi  inajqualis  est  eorum  potestas,  (cqua, 
debitur.     D.  27.  10.4. 


196  LECTURE   XXII. 

part  of  it  hath  been  ah'eadj  intimated,  in  setting  forth 
that  of  children  to  them.  It  is  the  duty  of  parents, 
to  take  ail  that  If ind  care,  which  is  the  main  founda- 
tion of  love;  to  keep  up  such  authority,  as  may  se- 
cure respect;  to  give  such  reasonable  commands,  as 
may  engage  a  willing  obedience;  and  thus  to  make 
their  children  so  good,  and  themselves  so  esteemed 
by  them,  that''they  may  depend,  in  case  of  need,  on 
assistance  and  succor  from  them. 

More  particularly  they  are  bound  to  think  them, 
from  the  first,  worthy  of  their  own  inspection  and 
pains;  and  not  abandon  them  to  the  negligence  or 
bad  management  of  others:  so  to  be  tendeV  of  them 
and  indulge  them,  as  not  to  encourage  their  faults;  so 
to  reprove  and  correct  them,  as  not  to  break  their 
spirits,  or  provoke  their  hatred:  to  instil  into  them 
the  knowledge,  and  require  of  them  the  practice,  of 
their  duty  to  God  and  man,  and  recommend  to  them 
every  precept,  both  of  religion  and  morality,  by  what 
is  the  strongest  recommendation,  a  good  and  amiable 
example:  to  breed  them  up  as  suitably  to  their  con- 
dition, as  may  be;  but  to  be  sure  not  above  it:  watch- 
ing over  them  witli  all  the  care  that  conduces  to 
health;  but  allowing  tliem  in  none  of  the  softness, 
that  produces  luxury  or  indolence;  or  of  the  needless 
distinctions  that  pamper  pride;  to  begin  preparing 
them  early,  according  to  their  future  station  in  life, 
for  being  useful  in  it,  to  others,  and  themselves:  to 
provide  conscientiously  for  their  spiritual  and  eternal, 
as  well  as  temporal  good,  in  disposing  of  them;  and 
bestow  them  willingly,  as  soon  as  it  is  fit,  whatever  may 
be  requisite  to  settle  them  properly  in  the  world:  to 
lay  up  for  them,  not  by  injustice,  penuriousness,  or 
immoderate  soticitude,  all  that  they  can;  but  by  hon- 
est and  prudent  diligence  and  attention,  as  much  as 
is  sufficient,  and  to  distribute  this  amongst  them,  not 
as  fondness,  or  resentment,  or  caprice,  or  vanit}',  may 
dictate;  but  in  a  reasonable  and  equitable  manner, 
such  as  will  be  likeliest  to  make  those  who  receive  it, 
love  one  another,  and  esteem  the  memory  of  the  giver. 


LECTURE  XXIII.  1^7 

These  are,  in  brief,  the  mutual  duties  of  parents 
and  children;  and  you  will  easily  perceive  that  they 
are  the  duties  in  proportion  of  all  who  by  any  occa- 
sional, or  accidental  means,  come  to  stand  in  the  stead 
of  parents  or  of  children.  The  main  thing  which 
wants  to  be  observed,  is,  that  from  the  neglect  of 
these  duties,  on  one  side,  or  on  both,  proceeds  a  very 
great  part  of  the  wickedness  and  misery,  that  is  in 
the  world.  May  God  incline  the  hearts  of  all  that 
arc  concerned,  either  way  in  this  most  important  re- 
lation, so  to  practice  the  several  obligations  of  it,  as 
may  procure  to  them,  in  this  world,  reciprocal  satis- 
faction and  joy,  and  eternal  felicity  in  that  which  is  to 
come,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord' 


LECTURE   XXIII. 

THE    FIFTH    COMMANDMENT. 
PART  II. 

In  my  last  discourse,  I  began  to  explain  the  fifth 
commandment;  and  having  already  gone  through  the 
duties  of  children  and  parents,  properly  so  called,  I 
come  now  to  the  other  sorts  of  inferiors  and  superi- 
ors; all  which  have  sometimes  the  same  names  given 
them,  and  are  comprehended  under  the  reason  and 
equity  of  this  precept. 

And  here,  the  first  relation  to  be  mentioned,  is,  that 
between  private  subjects  and  those  in  authority  over 
them:  a  relation  so  very  like  that  of  children  and  fa- 
tliers,  that  the  duties  on  both  sides  are  much  the  same 
in  each. 

But  more  particularly,  the  duty  of  subjects,  is,  to 
obey  the  laws  of  whatever  government  Providence 
hath  placed  us  under,  in  everything  which  is  not  con- 
trary to  the  laws  of  God;  and  to  contribute  willingly 


J 98  LECTURE  XXIII. 

to  its  support,  every  thing  that  is  legally  required  or 
may  be  reasonably  expected  of  us:  to  be  fai  hful  and 
true  to  the  interest  of  that  society,  of  which  we  are 
members;  and  to  the  persons  of  those,  who  govern  it; 
paying  both  to  the  Supreme  Power,  and  all  subordi- 
Lte  magistrates    every  part  of  that  s^^h"?f  \°"  ^r,^. 
respect,  both  in  speech  and  behaviour,  which  i.  then 
due:  and  making  all  those  allowances  m  their  favoi, 
which  the  difficulty  of  their  office,  and  the  frailty  ot 
our  common  nature  demand:  to  love  and  wish  weU  to 
all  our   fellow-subjects,  without  exception;  think  ot 
them  charitably,  and  treat  them  kindly;  to  be  peace- 
able and  quiet,  each  minding  diligently  the  duties  of 
his  own  station;  not  factious  and  turbulent,  mtruding 
into  the  concerns  of  others:  to  be  modest  and  hum- 
ble, '  not  exercising  ourselves  in  matters  too  hign  lor 
us;-'^  but  leaving  such  things  to  the  care  of  our  supe- 
riors, and  the  providence  of  God:  to  be  thankful  for 
the  blessings  and  advantages  of  government,  in  pro- 
portion as  we  enjoy  them:  and  reasonable  and  patien 
under  the  burdens  and  inconveniences  ot  it,  which  at 
any  time  we  may  sutFer.  n  i     ^r 

The  duty  of  princes  and  magistrates,  it  would  be  ot 
little  use  to  enlarge  on,  at  present.     In  genera  it  is, 
to  confine  the  exercise  of  their  power,  within  the  li- 
-   mits  of  these  laws,  to  which  they  are  bound;  and  di- 
rect it  to  the  attainment  of  those  ends,  for  which  they 
were  appointed;  to  execute  their  proper  function  with 
care  and  integrity;  as  'men  fearing  God,  men  ot  truth, 
hating   covetousness;'*    to  do  all  persons  impartial 
iustice,  and  consult,  in  all  cases,  the  public  benefit; 
encouraging  religion  and  virtue  with  zea  ,  especially 
by  a  good  example;  punishing  crimes  with  steadmess, 
yet  with  moderation;  and    '  studying  to  preserve  the 
people  committed  to  their  charge,  in  wealth,  peace 
and  godliness.'*  " 

a  Psal.  cxxxi.  1.  l>  Exod   sviii.21.  c.Communion  office^ 

,  JV.fe.-This  prayer  is  omitted  in  the  Amer.  Edit,  of  tlie  Prayer   Book". 
Amcr.  Edit 


LECTURE    XXIII.  199 

Another  relation,  to  be  brought  under  this  Com- 
mandment, is,  that  between  spiritual  fathers,  the 
teachers  of  religion,  and  such  as  are  to  be  taught. 

The  duty  of  us  who  have  undertaken  the  import- 
ant work  of  spiritual  guides  and' teachers,  is,  to  deliver 
the  doctrines  and  precepts  of  our  holy  religion,  in  the 
plainest  and  strongest  terms  that  we  can;  insisting 
on  such  things,  chiefly,  as  will  be  most  conducive  to 
the  real  and  inward  benefit  of  our  hearers:  and  re- 
commending them  in  the  most  prudent  and  persuasive 
manner;  'seeking  to  please  all  men  for  their  good, 
to  edification;'  °  but  fearing  no  man  in  the  discharge 
of  our  consciences,  and  neither  saying  or  omitting 
any  tiling  for  the  sake  of  applause  from  the  many,  or 
the  few;  or  of  promoting  either  our  own  wealth,  and 
power,  or  that  of  our  order;  to  instruct,  exhort  and 
comfort,  all  that  are  placed  under  our  care,  with  sin- 
cerity, discretion,  and  tenderness,  privately  as  well  as 
publicly,  so  far  as  they  give  us  opportunity,  or  we 
discern  hope  of  doing  service;  '  watching  for  their 
souls,  as  they  that  must  give  account;'  *  to  rule  in  the 
church  of  God  with  vigilance,  humility,  and  meek- 
ness, '  shewingourselves  in  all  things,  patterns  of  good 
works.'  '^ 

The  duty  of  you,  the  christian  laity,  whom  we  are 
to  teach,  is,  to  attend  constantly  and  seriously  on  re- 
ligious worship  and  instruction,  as  a  sacred  ordinance 
appointed  by  Heaven  for  your  spiritual  improvement; 
to  consider  impartially  and  carefully  what  you  hear, 
and  believe  and  practice  what  you  are  convinced  you 
ought;  to  observe  with  due  regard  the  rules  estab- 
lished for  decent  order  and  edification  in  the  Church; 
and  pay  such  respect,  in  word  and  deed,  to  those  who 
minister  to  you  in  holy  things,  as  the  interest  and  ho- 
nour of  religion  require,  accepting  and  encouraging 
our  well  meant  services,  and  bearing  charitably  with 
our  many  imperfections  and  failings. 

A  third  relation,  is,  that  between  masters  or  mis- 
tresses of  schools  and  their  scholars.  The  duty  of  the 

a  Rom.  XV.  2.  1  Cor.  x.  33.  b  Heb.  xiii.  17.  c  Tit.  ii.  7- 


SOO  LECTURE  XXIII. 

former  is,  diligently  to  instruct  the  children  commit- 
ted to  them,  in  all  the  things  which  they  are  put  tD 
learn,  suiting  their  manner  of  teaching,  as  well  as 
they  can,  to  the  temper  and  capacity  of  each:  and  to 
take  effectual  care  that  they  apply  themselves  to 
what  is  taught  them,  and  to  do  their  best:  to  watch 
ofver  their  behaviour,  especially  in  the  great  points  of 
religion  and  truth,  modesty  and  good  humor;  shew 
countenance  to  such  as  are  well-behaved  and  promis- 
ing; correct  the  faulty,  with  needful,  yet  not  with  ex- 
cessive severity;  and  get  the  incorrigible  removed 
out  of  the  way,  before  they  corrupt  others.  And  the 
duty  of  the  scholars  is,  to  reverence  and  obey  their 
master  or  mistress,  as  if  they  were  their  parents;  to 
live  friendly  and  lovingly  with  one  another,  as  breth- 
ren or  sisters;  to  be  heartily  thankful  to  all,  that 
give  or  procure  them  so  valuable  a  blessing  as  useful 
knowledge;  and  industrious  to  improve  in  it;  consid- 
ering how  greatly  their  happiness  here  and  hereafter, 
depends  upon  it. 

I  come  now  to  a  fourth  relation,  of  great  extent 
and  importance — that  between  heads  of  families  and 
their  servants. 

When  the  New  Testament  was  written,  the  gen- 
erality of  servants  were,  as  in  many  places  they  are 
still,  mere  slaves;  and  the  persons  to  whom  they  be- 
longed, had  a  right  to  their  labor,  and  that  of  their 
posterity  forever,  without  giving  them  any  other  wa- 
ges than  a  maintenance;  and  with  a  power  to  inflict 
on  them  what  punishments  they  pleased:  for  the  most 
part  even  death  itself,  if  they  would.  God  be  thank- 
ed, service  amongst  us  is  a  much  happier  thing:  the 
conditions  of  it  being  usually  no  other,  than  the  ser- 
vants themselves  voluntarily  enter  into,  for  their  own 
benefit.  But  then,  for  that  reason,  they  ought  to  per- 
form whatever  is  due  from  them,  both  more  consci- 
entiously and  more  cheerfully. 

Now  from  servants  is  due,  in  the  first  place,  obedi- 
ence. Indeed,  if  they  are  commanded  what  is  plainly 


LECTURE   XXIII.  201 

'Unlawful,  they  'ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  man;  " 
but  still  must  excuse  themselves  decently,  though 
resolutely.  And  even  lawful  things,  which  they 
have  not  bargained  to  do,  they  are  not  obliged  to  do; 
nor  any  thing  indeed,  which  is  clearly  and  greatly 
unsuitable  to  their  place  and  station,  and  improper 
to  be  required  of  them.  But  whatever  they  engaged, 
or  knew  they  were  expected  to  do;  or  what,  though 
they  did  not  know  of  it  beforehand,  is  usual  and  rea- 
sonable, or  even  not  very  unreasonable,  they  must 
submit  to.  For  if  they  may,  on  every  small  pretence 
refuse  to  do  this,  and  question,  whether  that  belong 
to  their  place,  it  is  most  evident,  that  all  authority 
and  order  in  families  must  be  at  an  end;  and  they 
themselves  will  have  much  more  trouble  in  disputing 
about  their  business,  than  they  would  have  in  per- 
forming it. 

Servants  therefore  should  obey:  and  they  should 
do  it  respectfully  and  readily:  not  murmuring,  be- 
having gloomily  and  sullenly,  as  if  their  work  was 
not  due  for  their  wages;  but,  as  the  Apostle  exhorts, 
*with  good  will  doing  service;*  not  answering  again,'c 
and  contradicting,  as  if  those,  whom  they  serve, 
were  their  equals;  but  paying  all  fit  honour  to  their 
master  or  mistress,  and  to  every  one  in  the   family. 

They  are  also  to  obey  with  diligence:  to  spend  as 
much  time  in  work,  and  follow  it  as  closely  all  that 
time,  as  can  be  fairly  expected  from  them;  '  not  with 
eye  service,  as  men  pleasers  (these  are  the  words  of 
Scripture,  twice  repeated  there)  but  in  singleness  of 
heart,  fearing  God.'"^  Whatever  industry  there- 
fore a  reasonable  master  would  require,  when  his  eye 
is  upon  them;  the  same,  in  the  main,  honest  servants 
will  use,  when  his  eye  is  not  upon  them:  for  his 
presence  or  absence  can  make  no  difference  in  their 
duty.  He  hath  agreed  with  them  for  their  time  and 
pains;  and  he  must  not  be  defrauded  of  them. 

a  Acts  V.  29.  JEph.  vi.  7.        c  Tit.  ii.  9.  d  Eph.  vi.  6.     Col.  iii.  22. 


202  LECTURE    XXIII.  , 

With  diligence  must  always  be  joined  care,  that 
no  business  be  neglected,  or  delaj^ed  beyond  its  prop- 
er season:  Nothing  mismanaged  for  want  of  tliink- 
ing  about  it:  Nothing  heedlessly,  much  less  designed- 
ly, wasted  and  squandered;  but  all  reasonable  fru- 
gality and  good  contrivance  shewn;  and  all  fair  ad- 
vantages taken,  yet  no  other,  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  employ  them.  Every  servant  would  Ihink  this 
but  common  justice  in  his  own  case;  and  therefore 
should  do  it  as  common  justice  in  his  master's  case. 
Some  perhaps  may  imagine  that  their  master's  estate 
or  income  is  well  able  to  afford  them  to  be  careless 
or  extravagant.  But  the  truth  is,  few  or  no  incomes 
can  afford  this.  For  if  it  be  practiced  in  one  thing, 
why  not  in  another?  And  what  must  follow,  if  it  be 
practiced  in  all?  That  certainly  which  we  daily  see 
that  persons  of  the  greatest  estates  are  distressed 
and  ruined  by  it.  Or  though  it  would  not  distress 
them  at  all,  yet  a  master's  wealth  is  no  more  a  jus- 
tification of  servants  wasting  what  belongs  to  him, 
than  of  their  stealing  it:  And  if  one  be  dishonest, 
the  other  must. 

Now  dishonesty  every  body  owns  to  be  a  crime: 
but  every  body  doth  not  consider  sufficiently  how 
many  sorts  of  it  there  are.  Observe  then,  that,  be- 
sides the  instances  already  mentioned,  and  the  gross 
ones  that  are  punishable  bylaw,  it  is  dishonest  in  a 
servant,  either  to  take  to  himself,  or  give  to  another, 
or  consent  to  the  taking  or  giving,  whatever  he 
knows  he  is  not  allowed,  and  durst  not  do  with  his 
master's  knowledge.  There  are,  to  be  sure,  various 
degrees  of  this  fault;  some  not  near  so  bad  as  others: 
but  it  is  the  same  kind  of  fault  in  all  of  them:  besides 
that  the  smaller  degrees  lead  to  the  greater.  And 
all  dishonesty,  bad  as  it  is  in  other  persons,  is  yet 
worse  in  those  who  are  entrusted,  as  servants  are; 
and  things  put  in  their  power  upon  that  trust,  which 
if  they  break,  they  are  unfaithful,  as  well   as  unjust. 

Another  sort  of  dishonesty  is  speaking  falsehoods: 
against  which  I  have  already,  in  the  course  of  these 


LECTURE  XXIII.  203 

Lectures,  given  some  cautions,  and  shall  give  more: 
therefore  at  present  I  shall  only  say,  that  whctlier 
servants  are  guilty  of  it  amongst  themselves,  or  to 
their  masters  or  mistresses,  whether  against  or  in 
favour  of  one  another,  or  even  in  their  own  favour, 
there  are  few  things,  by  which  they  may  both  do 
and  sutler  more  harm  than  a  lying  tongue. 

Truth  therefore  is  a  necessary  quality  in  servants. 
And  a  further  one  is  proper  secrecy.  For  there  is 
great  unfairness  in  betraying  the  secrets,  either  of 
their  master's  business,  or  his  family;  or  turning  to 
his  disadvantage  any  thing  that  comes  to  their  knowl- 
edge by  being  employed  under  him;  unless  it  be 
where  conscience  obliges  them  to  a  discovery;  which 
is  a  case  that  seldom  happens.  And,  excepting  that 
case,  what  they  [lave  promised  to  conceal,  it  is  pal- 
pable wickedness  to  disclose:  And  where  they  have 
not  promised,  yet  they  arc  taken  into  their  master's 
house  to  be  assistants  and  friends,  not  spies  and  tale 
bearers;  to  do  service,  not  harm,  to  him,  and  to  every 
one  that  is  under  his  roof. 

Two  other  duties,  of  all  persons  indeed,  but  in  some 
measure,  peculiarly  of  servants,  are  sobriety;  with- 
out which  they  can  neither  be  careful  nor  diligent, 
nor  will  be  likely  to  continue  just;  and  chastity,  the 
want  of  which  will  produce  all  manner  of  disorders 
and  mischiefs  in  the  family  to  which  they  belong, 
and  utter  ruin  to  themselves. 

The  last  requisite  which  I  shall  mention,  is  peace- 
ableness  and  good  temper;  agreeing  with,  and  help- 
ing one  another,  and  making  the  w^ork  which  they 
have  to  do,  easy,  and  the  lives,  which  they  are  to  lead 
together,  comfortable.  For  it  is  very  unfit,  that 
either  their  masters  or  any  other  part  of  the  family 
should  suffer  through  their  ill-humour;  and  indeed 
tliey  sutFer  enough  by  it  themselves,  to  make  restrain- 
ing it  well  worth  their  while. 

These  are  the  duties  of  servants;  and  as  the  faith- 
ful performance  of  them  is  the  surest  way  of  serving 
themselves,  and  being  happy  in  this  world:  so,  if  it 


!204  LECTURE  xxirr. 

proceed  from  a  true  principle  of  conscience,  God 
will  accept  it,  as  a  service  done  to  himself,  and  make 
them  eternally  happy  for  it  in  the  next:  whereas 
wilfully  transgressing,  or  negligently  slighting  the 
things  which  they  ought  to  do,  whatever  pleasure 
or  whatever  advantage  it  may  promise  or  produce 
to  them  for  a  while,  will  seldom  fail  of  bringing 
them  at  last  to  shame  and  ruiri  even  here,  and  will 
certainly  bring  them,  unless  they  repent  and  amend, 
to  misery  hereafter; 

But  think  not,  I  entreat  you,  that  we  will  lay  bur- 
thens on  those  below  us,  and  take  none  upon  our- 
selves. There  are  duties  also,  and  very  necessary 
ones,  which  masters  and  mistresses  owe  to  their  ser- 
vants. 

To  behave  towards  them  with  meekness  and  gen- 
tleness, not  imperiously  and  with  contempt:  and  to 
restrain  them,  as  far  as  may  be,  from  giving  bad 
usage  one  to  another*,  never  to  accuse,  threaten,  or 
suspect  them,  without  or  bcjond  reason;  to  hear  pa- 
tiently their  defences  and  complaints;  and  bear  with 
due  moderation,  their  mistakes  and  faults;  neither  to 
make  them,  when  in  health,  work  or  fare  harder  than 
is  fitting;  nor  suffer  them,  when  in  sickness,  to  want 
any  thing  requisite  for  their  comfort  and  relief:  if 
they  be  hired  servants,  to  pay  their  wages  fully  and 
punctually  at  the  time  agreed:  if  they  are  put  to 
learn  any  business  or  profession,  to  instruct  them  in 
it  carefully  and  thoroughly:  not  only  to  give  them 
time  for  the  exercises  of  religion;  but  assistance  to 
understand,  and  encouragement  to  practice,  every 
part  of  their  duty:  To  keep  them,  as  much  as  possi- 
ble, both  from  sin  and  temptation,  and  particularly 
from  corrupting  each  other:  To  shew  displeasure 
when  they  do  amiss,  as  far,  and  no  farther  than  the 
case  requires;  and  to  countenance  and  reward  them, 
when  they  serve  well,  in  proportion  to  the  merit  and 
length  of  such  service.  For  all  these  things  are  nat- 
ural dictates  of  reason  and  humanity;  and  clearly 
implied  in    that  comprehensive   rule  of  Scripture? 


LECTURE    XXIII.  205 

*  masters,  give  unto  your  servants  that  which  is  just 
and  equal;  knowing,  that  ye  also  have  a  master  in 
Heaven.' " 

There  are  still  two  sorts  more,  of  inferiors  and  supe- 
riors, that  may  properly  be  mentioned  under  this  com- 
mandment: young  persons  and  elder;  those  of  low 
and  hiijh  dc^iree. 

The  duty  of  the  younger  is,  to  moderate  their  own 
rashness  and  love  of  pleasure;  to  reverence  the  per- 
sons and  advice  of  the  aged ;  and  neither  to  use  them 
ill,  or  despise  them,  on  account  of  the  infirmities  that 
may  accompanj'  advanced  years;  considering  in  what 
manner  they  will  expect  hereafter  that  others  should 
treat  them.  And  the  duty  of  elder  persons  is,  to 
make  all  fit  allowances,  but  no  hurtful  ones,  to  the 
natural  dispositions  of  young  people;  to  instruct  them 
with  patience,  and  reprove  tliem  with  mildness;  not 
to  require  either  too  much  or  too  long  submission 
from  them;  but  be  willing  that  they,  in  their  turn, 
should  come  forward  into  the  world;  gradually  with- 
drawing themselves  from  the  heavier  cares,  and  the 
lighter  pleasures  of  this  life:  and  waiting  with  pious 
resignation  to  be  called  into  another. 

The  duty  of  the  lower  part  of  the  world  to  those 
above  them,  in  rank,  fortune,  or  office,  is,  not  to  envy 
them;  or  murmur  at  the  superiority  which  a  wise, 
though  mysterious  Providence,  hath  given  them;  but 
'in  whatever  state  they  are,  therewith  to  be  con- 
tent;'* and  pay  willingly  to  others  all  the  respect, 
which  decency  or  custom  have  made  their  due.  At 
the  same  time,  the  duty  of  those  in  higher  life  is,  to 
relieve  the  poor,  protect  the  injured,  countenance 
the  good,  discourage  the  bad,  as  they  have  opportuni- 
ty; not  to  scorn,  much  less  to  oppress  the  meanest  of 
their  brethren;  but  to  remember,  that  '  we  shall  all 
stand  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ;' '^  where 'he 
that  doth  wrong,  shall  receive  for  the  wrong  which 
he  hath  done;  and  there  is  no  respect  of  persons.''' 

aCol.  iv.  1.        4  Phil.  iv.  11.         c  Rom.  xiv.  10.         d  Col.  iii.  25. 

T  2 


206  LECTUEE   XXIVc 

And  now,  were  but  all  these  duties  conscientiously 
observed  by  all  the  world,  how  happy  a  place  would 
it  be!  And  whoever  will  faithfully  do  their  own  part 
of  them,  they  shall  be  happy,  whether  others  will  do 
theirs  or  not;  and  this  Commandment  assures  them 
of  it;  '  that  thy  days  may  be  long  in  the  land  which 
the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee.  '  In  all  probability,  if 
we  obey  his  laws,  and  that  now  before  us  in  particu- 
lar, both  longer  and  more  prosperous  will  our  days 
prove  in  this  land  of  our  pilgrimage,  in  which  God 
hath  placed  us  to  sojourn:  but,  without  all  question, 
eternal  and  infinite  shall  our  felicity  be,  in  that  land 
of  promise,  the  heavenly  Canaan,  which  he  hath  ap- 
pointed for  our  inheritance;  and  which  that  we  may 
all  inherit  accordingly,  he  of  his  mercy  grant,  (St c. 


LECTURE   XXIV, 

THE    SIXTH    COMMANDMENT. 

Having  set  before  you,  under  the  fifth  Command- 
ment, the  particular  duties,  which  inferiors  and  supe- 
riors owe  each  to  the  other,  I  proceed  now  to  those 
remaining  precepts,  which  express  the  general  duties 
of  all  men  to  all  men. 

Amongst  these,  as  life  is  the  foundation  of  every 
thing  valuable  to  us,  the  preservcition  of  it  is  justly 
entitled  to  the  first  place.  And  accordingly,  the  sixth 
Commandment  is, '  thou  shalt  do  no  murder.'  Murder 
is  taking  away  a  person's  life,  with  design,  and  with- 
out authority.  Unless  both  concur,  it  doth  not  de- 
serve that  name. 

I.  It  is  not  murder,  unless  it  be  with  design.  He 
who  is  duly  careful  to  avoid  doing  harm,  and  unhap- 
pily notwitstanding  that,  kills  another,  though  he 
hath  cause  to  be  extremely  sorry  for  it,  yet  is  entirely 
void  of  guilt  on  account  of  it.     For  his  will  having 


LECTURE    XXIV.  '207 

no  share  in  the  action,  it  is  not,  in  a  moral  sense,  his. 
But  il'  he  doth  the  mischief  through  heedlessness,  or 
levity  of  mind,  or  inconsiderate  vehemence,  here  is  a 
fault.  If  the  likelihood  of  mischief  could  be  foreseen, 
the  fault  is  greater;  and  the  highest  degree  of  such 
negligence,  or  impetuous  rashness,  comes  near  to  bad 
intention. 

2.  It  is  not  murder,  unless  it  be  without  authority. 
Now  a  person  hath  authority,  from  the  law  both  of 
God  and  man,  to  defend  his  own  life,  if  he  cannot  do 
it  otherwise,  by  the  death  of  whoever  attacks  it  un- 
justly: whose  destruction  in  that  case,  is  of  his  own 
seeking,  and  '  his  blood  on  his  own  head.'''  But  noth- 
ing short  of  the  most  imminent  danger,  ought  ever  to 
carry  us  to  such  an  extremity:  and  a  good  person 
will  spare  ever  so  bad  a  one,  as  far  as  he  can  with 
any  prospect  of  safety.  Again,  proper  magistrates 
have  autliority  to  sentence  oil'enders  to  death  on  suffi- 
cient proof  of  such  crimes  as  the  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity requires  to  be  thus  punished;  and  to  employ 
others  in  the  execution  of  that  sentence.  And  pri- 
vate persons  have  authority,  and  in  proper  circum- 
stances are  obliged,  to  seize  and  prosecute  such  offen- 
ders: for  all  this  is  only  another  sort  of  self-defence: 
defending  the  public  from  what  else  would  be  perni- 
cious to  it.  And  the  Scripture  hath  said,  that  the 
sovereign  power  '  beareth  not  the  sword  in  vain.' ' 
But  in  whatever  cases  gentler  punishments  would 
sufficiently  answer  the  ends  of  government,  surely 
capital  ones  are  forbidden  by  this  commandment. — 
Self-defence,  in  the  last  place,  authorizes  whole  na- 
tions to  make  war  upon  other  nations,  when  it  is  the 
only  way  to  obtain  redress  of  injuries,  which  cannot 
be  supported;  or  security  against  impending  ruin. 
To  determine  w^hether  the  state  is  indeed  in  these  un- 
happy circumstances,  belongs  to  the  supreme  juris- 
diction: and  the  question  ought  to  be  considered  very 
conscientiously.    For  wars,  begun  or  continued  with- 

a  2  Sam.  i.  16.  1  Kings  ii.  37.  Ezek.  xzxiii.  4.  b  Rom.  xiii.  4. 


'20S  LECTURE   XilV. 

out  necessity,  are  unchristian  and  inhuman:  as  many 
murders  are  committed,  as  lives  are  lost  in  them;  be- 
sides the  innumerable  sins  and  miseries  of  other  sorts, 
with  which  they  are  always  attended.  But  subjects, 
in  their  private  capacity,  are  incompetent  judges  of 
what  is  requisite  for  the  public  weal:  nor  can  the 
guardians  of  it  permit  them  to  act  upon  their  judg- 
ment, were  they  to  make  one.  Therefore  they  may 
lawfully  serve  in  wars,  which  their  superiors  have  un- 
lawfully undertaken,  excepting  perhaps  such  offensive 
wars,  as  are  notoriously  unjust.  In  others,  it  is  no 
more  the  business  of  the  soldiery  to  consider  the 
grounds  of  their  sovereign's  taking  up  arms,  than  it 
is  the  business  of  the  executioner  to  examine  whether 
the  magistrate  hath  passed  a  right  sentence. 

You  see  then,  in  what  cases  killing  is  not  murder; 
in  all,  but  these,  it  is.  And  you  cannot  fail  of  seeing 
the  guilt  of  this  crime  to  be  singularly  great  and  hein- 
ous. It  brings  designedly  upon  one  of  our  brethren, 
without  cause,  what  human  nature  abhors  and  dreads 
most.  It  cuts  him  off  from  all  the  enjoyments  of  this 
life  at  once,  and  sends  him  into  another  for  which 
possibly  he  was  not  yet  prepared.  It  defaces  the  im- 
age, and  defeats  the  design  of  God.  It  overturns  the 
great  purpose  of  government  and  laws,  mutual  safety. 
It  robs  the  society  of  a  member,  and  consequently  of 
part  of  its  strength.  It  robs  the  relations,  friends  and 
dependents,  of  the  person  destroyed,  of  every  benefit 
and  pleasure,  which  else  they  might  have  had  from 
him.  And  the  injury  done,  in  all  these  respects,  hath 
the  terrible  aggravation,  that  it  cannot  be  recalled. 
Most  wisely  therefore  hath  our  Creator  surrounded 
murder  with  a  peculiar  horror;  that  nature,  as  well, 
as  reason,  may  deter  from  it  every  one,  who  is  not  ut- 
terly abandoned  to  the  worst  of  wickedness;  and 
most  justly  hath  he  appointed  the  sons  of  Noah,  that 
is,  all  mankind,  to  punish  death  with  death.  '  Who- 
so sheddeth  man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be 
shed;  for  in  the  image  of  God  made  he  man.'**  And 

a  Gen.  is.  6. 


LECTURE    XXIV.  209 

that  nothing  may  protect  so  daring  an  ofTender,  he 
enjoined  the  Jews,  in  the  chapter  which  follows  the 
ten  Commandments, '  if  a  man  come  presumptuously 
upon  his  neighbor  to  slay  him  with  guile,  thou  shalt 
take  him  from  mine  altar  that  he  may  die.' "  But  sup- 
posing, what  seldom  happens,  that  the  murderer  may 
escape  judicial  vengeance;  yet  what  piercing  reflec- 
tions, what  continual  terrors  and  alarms,  must  he  car- 
ry about  with  him !  And  could  he  be  hardened  against 
these,  it  would  only  subject  him  the  more  inevitably 
to  that  future  condemnation,  from  which  nothing  but 
the  deepest  repentance  can  possibly  exempt  him.  For 
'no  murderer  hath  eternal  life:' *  but  they  'shall 
have  their  part  in  the  lake  that  burnetii  with  fire  and 
brimstone,  which  is  the  second  death.' <= 

Cut  shocking,  and  deserving  of  punishment  here 
and  hereafter,  as  this  crime  always  is;  yet  there  are 
circumstances,  which  may  augment  it  greatly.  If  the 
person,  whom  any  one  deprives  of  life,  be  placed  in 
lawful  authority  over  him;  or  united  in  relation  or 
friendship  to  him;  or  have  done  him  kindnesses:  or 
only  never  have  done  him  harm;  or  be,  in  a  peculiar 
degree,  good,  useful,  or  pitiable;  each  of  these  things 
considerably  increases  the  sin,  though  some  indeed 
more  than  others.  Again,  if  the  horrid  fact  be  formal- 
ly contrived,  and  perhaps  the  design  carried  on 
through  a  length  of  time,  this  argues  a  much  more 
steady  and  inflexible  depravity  of  heart,  than  the 
commission  of  it  in  a  sudden  rage.  But  still,  even  the 
last,  though  it  hath,  in  the  law  of  this  country,  a  differ- 
ent name,  of  man-slaughter,  given  it,  and  a  different 
punishment  prescribed  for  the  first  offence;  yet  in  the 
sight  of  God  is  as  truly  murder  as  the  former,  though 
freer  from  aggravations.  The  mischief  done  is  done 
purposely;  and  neither  passion  nor  provocation,  gives 
authority  for  doing  it,  or  even  any  great  excuse. — 
For  as  God  hath  required  us,  he  hath  certainly  ena- 
bled us,  to  restrain  the  hastiest  sallies  of  our  anger, 
especially  from  such  enormities  as  this. 

a  Exod.  xsi.  14.  ft  1  John  iii.  15.  cRcv.  xxr.  8 


210  LECTURE    XXIV. 

Nor  doth  it  materially  alter  the  nature,  or  lessen 
at  all  the  degree  of  the  sin,  if,  whilst  we  attack  ano- 
ther, we  give  him  an  opportunity  to  defend  himself, 
and  attack  us:  as  in  dueling.  Still  taking  away  his 
life  is  murder:  exposing  our  own  is  so  likewise:  as  I 
shall  quickly  shew  you.  And  an  appointment  of  two 
persons  to  meet  for  this  purpose,  under  pretence  of 
being  bound  to  it  by  their  honor,  is  an  agreement  in 
form  to  commit,  for  the  sake  of  an  absurd  notion,  or 
rather  an  unmeaning  word,  the  most  capital  offence 
against  each  other,  and  their  Maker;  of  which,  if 
their  intention  succeed,  they  cannot  have  time  to 
repent. 

As  to  the  manner,  in  which  murder  is  committed, 
whether  a  person  do  it  directly  himself,  or  employ  ano- 
ther: whether  he  do  it  by  force,  or  fraud,  or  color  of 
justice:  accusing  falsely,  or  taking  any  unfair  advan- 
tage: these  things  make  little  further  difference  in  the 
guilt,  than  that  the  most  artful  and  studied  way  is 
generally  the  worst. 

And  tliough  a  design  of  murder  should  not  take  ef- 
fect; yet  whoever  hath  done  all  that  he  could  towards 
it,  is  plainly  as  much  a  sinner,  as  if  it  had.  Nay,  do- 
ing any  thing  towards  it,  or  so  much  as  once  intend- 
ing it,  or  assisting  or  encouraging  any  other  who  in- 
tends it,  is  the  same  sort  of  wickedness.  A-nd  if  a 
person  doth  not  directly  design  the  death  of  another; 
yet  if  he  designedly  doth  wjiat  he  knows  or  suspects 
may  probably  occasion  it;  he  is,  in  proportion  to  his 
knowledge,  or  suspicion,  guilty.  Nay,  if  he  is  only 
negligent  in  matters,  which  may  affect  human  life;  or 
meddles  with  them,  when  he  hath  cause  to  think  he 
understands  them  not,  he  is  far  from  innocent.  And 
there  are  several  professions  and  employments,  in 
which  these  truths  ought  to  be  considered  with  a  pe- 
culiar degree  of  seriousness. 

Farther  yet:  if  it  be  criminal  to  contribute  in  any 
manner  towards  taking  away  a  person's  life  immedi- 
atel}^;  it  must  be  criminal  also  to  contribute  any  thing 
towards  shortening  it,  which  is  taking  it  away  after  a 


LECTURE    XXIV.  211 

time:  whether  by  bringing  any  liodily  disease  upon 
him,  or  causing  him  any  grief  or  anxiety  of  mind,  or 
by  what  indeed  will  produce  both,  distressing  him  in 
his  circumstances: concerning  which  the  son  ofSiracli 
saith:  '  lie  that  taketh  away  his  neighbour's  living, 
slayeth  him;  and  he  that  dcfraudeth  the  labourer  of 
his  hire,  is  a  blood-shedder.'" 

Indeed,  if  we  cause  or  procure  any  sort  of  hurt  to 
another,  though  it  hath  no  tendency  to  deprive  him 
of  life,  yet  if  it  makes  any  part  of  liis  life,  more  or 
less,  uneasy  or  uncomfortable,  we  deprive  him  so  far 
of  what  makes  it  valuable  to  him:  which  is  equiva- 
lent to  taking  so  much  of  it  away  from  him,  or  possi- 
bly worse. 

Nay,  if  we  do  a  person  no  harm:  yet  if  we  wish 
him  harm,  St.  John  hath  determined  the  case:  'who- 
soever hateth  his  brother  is  a  murderer.'*  For  in- 
deed, hatred  not  only  leads  to  murder;  and  too  often, 
when  indulged,  produces  it  unexpectedly:  but  it  is 
always,  though  perliaps  for  the  most  part  in  a  lower 
degree,  the  very  spirit  of  murder  in  the  heart;  and  it 
is  by  our  hearts  that  God  will  judge  us.  Nay,  should 
our  dishke  of  another  not  rise  to  fixed  hatred  and 
malice:  yet  if  it  rise  to  unjust  anger,  we  know  our 
Saviours  declaration,  'it  was  said  by  them  of  old 
time,  thou  shalt  not  kill:  and  whosoever  shall  kill, 
shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgment.  But  I  say  unto 
you,  whosoever  is  angry  with  his  brother  without  a 
cause,  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgment.'  "=  That 
is,  whosoever  is  angry,  either  with  persons  that  he 
ought  not,  or  on  occasions  that  he  ought  not,  or  more 
vehemently,  or  sooner,  or  longer  than  he  ought,  is 
guilty  in  some  measure  of  that  uncharitableness  of 
which  murder  is  the  highest  act:  and  liable  to  the 
punishment  of  it  in  the  same  proportion. 

Nor  even  yet  have  I  carried  the  explanation  of 
this  commandment  to  the  extent  of  our  duty.  Who- 
ever doth  not,  as  far  as  can  be  reasonably  expected 

/I  Ecclu3.  Mxiv.  22.  JlJohniii.  15.  c  Mattli.  v.  21,  22- 


212  LECTURE   XXIV, 

from  him,  endeavour  to  guard  his  neighbour  fromi 
harm,  to  make  peace,  to  relieve  distress  and  want, 
fails  of  what  love  to  human  kind  certainly  requires. 
Now  'love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law:'''  and  he  that 
loveth  not  his  brother,  abideth  in  death.'* 

We  are  also  carefully  to  observe,  that  however 
heinous  it  is,  to  sin  against  the  temporal  life  of  any 
one;  injuring  him  in  respect  of  his  eternal  interests 
is  yet  unspeakably  worse.  If  it  be  unlawful  to  kill 
or  hurt  the  body,  or  overlook  men's  worldly  necessi- 
ties; m.uch  more  is  it  to  destroy  the  soul  of 'our  broth- 
er for  whom  Christ  died;'''  or  any  way  endanger  it; 
or  even  suffer  it  to  continue  in  danger,  if  we  have  in 
our  power  the  proper  and  likely  means  of  delivering 
it.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  all  that  mercy  and  hu- 
manity, which,  in  the  civil  concerns  of  our  neigh- 
bours, is  so  excellent  a  duty,  must  proportionably  be 
still  more  excellent  in  their  religious  ones,  and  of 
higher  value  in  the  sight  of  God. 

Hitherto  I  have  considered  the  prohibition,  '  thou 
shalt  do  no  murder,'  as  respecting  others;  but  it  for- 
bids also  self-murder.  As  we  are  not  to  commit  vio- 
lence against  the  image  of  God  in  the  person  of  any 
of  our  brethren:  so  neither  in  our  own.  As  we  are 
not  to  rob  the  society  to  which  we  belong,  or  any 
part  of  it,  of  the  service,  which  any  other  of  its  mem- 
bers might  do  to  it;  we  are  not  to  rob  either  of  what 
we  might  do.  As  we  are  not  to  send  any  one  else 
out  of  the  world  prematurely;  we  are  not  to  send 
ourselves;  but  wait  with  patience  'all  the  days  of  our 
appointed  time,  till  our  change  come.'''  If  the  sins 
which  persons  have  committed,  prompt  them  to  des- 
pair; they  of  all  others,  instead  of  rushing  into  the 
presence  of  God  by  adding  this  dreadful  one  to  them, 
should  earnestly  desire  'space  to  repent,'^  which  by 
his  grace,  the  worst  of  sinners  may  do,  and  be  for- 
given.    If  their  misfortunes  or  sufferings  make  them 

a  Rom.  xiii.  10.  b  1  John  iii.  14.  c  Rom.  siv.  15. 

d  Job.  xiv.  14.  e  Rev.  ii.  21 . 


LECTURE  XXIV.  ^13 

weary  of  life:  he  hath  sent  them  these  with  design, 
that  they  should  not  by  unlawful  means  evade  them, 
but  go  through  them  well:  whether  they  be  inflicted 
for  the  punishment  of  their  faults,  or  the  trial  of  their 
virtues.  In  either  case,  we  are  to  submit  quietly  to 
the  discipline  of  our  Heavenly  Father:  which  he 
will  not  suffer  to  be  heavier  than  we  can  bear,  what- 
ever we  may  imagine;  but  will  support  us  under  it, 
improve  us  by  it,  and  in  due  time  release  us  from  it. 
But  in  any  case  for  persons  to  make  away  with  them- 
selves, is  to  arraign  the  constitution  of  things  which 
he  hath  appointed;  and  to  refuse  living  where  he 
hath  put  them  to  live:  a  very  provoking  instance  of 
undutifulness,  and  made  peculiarly  fatal  by  this  cir- 
cumstance, that  leaving  usually  no  room  for  repen- 
tance, it  leaves  none  for  pardon:  always  excepting, 
where  it  proceeds  from  a  mind  so  disordered  by  a 
bodily  disease,  as  to  be  incapable  of  judging  or  act- 
ing reasonably.  For  God  knows  with  certainty 
when  this  is  the  cause,  and  when  not:  and  will  ac- 
cordingly either  make  due  allowances,  or  make  none. 

Andif  destroying  ourselves  be  a  sin,  doing  anything 
wilfullj  or  heedlessly,  that  tends  to  our  destruction, 
must  in  proportion  be  a  sin.  Where  indeed  necessity 
requires  great  hazards  to  be  run  by  some  persons  for 
the  good  of  others:  as  in  war,  in  extinguishing  dan- 
gerous fires,  in  several  cases  which  might  be  named; 
or  where  employments  and  professions  which  some- 
body or  other  must  undertake,  or  such  diligence  in 
any  employment  as  men  are  by  accidents  really 
called  to  use,  impair  health  and  shorten  life:  there 
far  from  being  thrown  awaj',  it  is  laudably  spent  in  the 

service  of  God  and  man.  But  for  any  person  to  bring 
on  himself  an  untimely  end,  by  adventurous  rash- 
ness; by  ungoverned  passion,  by  an  immoderate  anx- 
iety, or  by  an  obstinate  or  careless  neglect  of  his  own 
preservation,  is  unquestionably  sinful.  And  above 
all,  doing  it  by  debauchery  or  immoral  excess,  is  a 
most  effectual  way  of  ruining  soul  and  body  at 
once. 

U 


214  LECTURE  XXV. 

Let  us  therefore  be  conscientiously  watchful 
against  every  thing  which  may  provoke,  or  entice 
us,  to  be  injurious,  either  to  others  or  ourselves. 
And  God  grant,  that  we  may  so  regard  the  lives  of 
our  fellow-creatures,  and  so  employ  our  own,  that 
we  may  ever  please  the  giver  and  Lord  of  life;  and 
having  faithfully  lived  to  him  here,  may  eternally 
live  %vith  him  hereafter,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  on- 
ly Saviour.     Amen. 


LECTURE  XXV. 

SEVENTH    COMMANDMENT. 

In  speaking  to  this  commandment,  it  is  proper  to 
begin  with  observing,  that  as  in  the  sixth,  where 
murder  is  forbidden,  every  thing  which  tends  to  it, 
or  proceeds  from  the  same  bad  principle  with  it,  is 
forbidden  too:  so  here,  in  the  seventh,  where  adulte- 
ry is  prohibited,  the  prohibition  must  be  extended  to 
whatever  else  is  criminal  in  the  same  kind.  And 
therefore,  in  explaining  it,  I  shall  treat,  first  of  the 
fidelity  which  it  requires  from  married  persons,  and 
then  of  the  chastity  and  modesty  which  it  requires 
from  all  persons. 

First  of  the  fidelity  owing  to  each  other  from  mar- 
ried persons. 

Not  only  the  Scripture  account  of  the  creation  of 
mankind  is  a  proof  to  as  many  as  believe  in  Scrip- 
ture, that  the  union  of  one  man  with  one  woman  was 
the  original  design  and  will  of  Heaven;  but  the  re- 
markable equality  of  males  and  females  born  into 
the  world  is  an  evidence  of  it  to  all  men.  Yet  not- 
withstanding it  must  be  owned,  the  cohabitation  of 
one  man  with  several  wives  at  the  same  time,  was 
practiced  very  anciently  in  the  darker  ages,  even  by 
some  of  the  patriarchs,  who  were  otherwise  good 
persons;  but,  having  no  explicit  revealed  rule  con- 


LECTURE    XXV.  215 

cerning  this  matter,  failed  of  discerning  the  above 
mentioned  purpose  of  God,  and  both  this  error  and 
that  of  divorce  on  slight  occasions,  were  tolerated  by 
the  law  of  Moses.  But  that  was  only  as  the  laws  of 
other  countries  often  connive  at  what  the  lawgiver  is 
far  from  approving.  Accordingly  God  expressed, 
particularly  by  the  prophet  Malachi,"  his  dislike  of 
these  things.  And  our  Saviour  both  tells  the  Jews, 
that  Moses  permitted  divorces  at  pleasure,  merely 
'  because  of  the  hardness  of  their  hearts,'  and  per- 
emptorily declares,  that  '  whosoever  shall  put  away 
his  wife,  except  it  be  for  fornication,  and  shall  marry 
another,  committcth  adultery.*  Now  certainly  it 
cannot  be  less  adulterous  to  marry  a  second  without 
putting  away  the  first. 
Nor  is  polygamy  (that  is  the  having  more  wives  than 
one  at  once)  prohibited  in  holy  writ  alone,  but  con- 
demned by  many  of  the  Heathens  themselves,  who 
allege  against  it  very  plain  and  forcible  reasons.  It 
is  inconsistent  with  a  due  degree  of  mutual  affection 
in  the  parties,  and  due  care  in  the  education  of  their 
children.  It  introduces  into  families  perpetual  sub- 
jects of  the  bitterest  enmity  and  jealousy:  keeps  a 
multitude  of  females  in  most  unnatural  bondage,  fre- 
quently under  guardians  fitted  for  the  office  by  un- 
natural cruelty:  and  tempts  a  multitude  of  males, 
thus  left  unprovided  for,  to  unnatural  lusts.  In  civ- 
ilized and  well-regulated  countries  therefore,  single 
marriages  have  either  been  established  at  first,  or 
prevailed  afterwards  on  experience  of  their  prefera- 
bleness:  and  a  mutual  promise  of  inviolable  faithful- 
ness to  the  marriage-bed  hath  been  understood  to  be 
an  essential  part  of  the  contract:  which  promise  is 
with  us  more  solemnly  expressed  in  the  office  of  mat- 
rimony, by  as  clear  and  comprehensive  words  as  can 
be  devised.  And  unless  persons  are  at  liberty  in  all 
cases  to  slight  the  most  awful  vows  to  God,  and  the 
most  deliberate   engagements  of  each  to  the  other; 

a  Slal.  ii.  14,  15,  16.  b  Matt.  six.  8,  9. 


216  LECTURE     XXV. 

how  can   they  be  at  hberty  in  this,  where  pubh'c 
good,  and  private  happiness  are  so  deeply  interested? 

Breaches  of  phghted  faith,  as  they  must  be  prece- 
ded by  a  want  of  sufficient  conjugal  affection  in  the 
offending  party,  so  they  tend  to  extinguish  all  the 
remains  of  it:  and  this  change  will  be  performed, 
and  will  give  uneasiness  to  the  innocent  one,  though 
the  cause  be  hid.  But  if  it  be  known,  or  merely  sus- 
pected by  the  person  wronged,  (which  it  seldom  fails 
to  be  in  a  little  time)  it  produces  from  the  make  of 
the  hurnan  mind,  in  warmer  tempers,  a  resentment 
so  strong,  in  milder,  an  "affliction  so  heavy,  that  few 
things  in  the  world  equal  either.'  '  For  love  is  strong 
as  death,  jealousy  is  cruel  as  the  grave,  the  coals 
thereof  are  coals  of  fire.'°  And  with  whatever  ve- 
hemence they  burn  inwardly  or  outwardly  it  can  be 
no  wonder;  when  perfidious  unkindness  is  found  in 
that  nearest  relation,  where  truth  and  love  were  de- 
liberately pledged,  and  studiously  paid  on  one  side 
in  expectation  of  a  suitable  return;  and  when  the 
tenderest  part  of  the  enjoyment  of  life  is  given  up 
beyond  recall  into  the  hands  of  a  traitor,  who  turns 
it  into  the  acutest  misery.  To  what  a  heighth  of  grief 
and  anger  on  one  side,  and  neglect  ripened  into  scorn 
and  hatred  on  the  other,  may  carry  such  calamities 
cannot  be  foreseen:  but  at  least  they  utterly  destroy 
that  union  of  hearts,  that  reciprocal  confidence,  that 
openness  of  communication,  that  sameness  of  inter- 
est, of  joys  and  sorrows,  which  constitute  the  princi- 
pal felicity  of  the  married  state.  And  besides,  how 
very  frequently  do  the  consequences  of  these  trans- 
gressions affect,  and  even  ruin,  the  health  or  the 
fortune,  it  may  be  both,  of  the  blameless  person  in 
common  with  the  other;  and  perhaps  derive  down 
diseases  and  poverty  to  successive  generations! 

These  are  fruits  which  unfaithfulness  in  either 
party  may  produce.  In  one  it  may  produce  yet  more. 
A  woman  guilty  of  this  crime,  who  to  use  the  words 

6  Cant,  viii.  6. 


LECTURE  XXV.  21* 

of  Scripture,  'forsaketh  the  guide  of  her  youth,  and 
forgetteth  the  covenant  of  her  God,'"  brings  peculiar 
disgrace  on  her  husband,  her  children,  and  friends: 
and  may  bring  an  illegitimate  offspring  to  inherit 
what  is  the  right  of  others;  nor  is  the  infamy  and 
punishment,  to  which  she  exposes  herself,  a  less 
dreadful  evil  for  being  a  deserved  one.  And  if  false- 
hood on  the  men's  part  hath  not  all  the  same  «iggra- 
vations,  it  hath  very  great  ones  in  their  stead.  They 
are  almost  constantly,  the  tempters:  they  often  carry 
on  their  wicked  designs  for  a  long  time  together: 
they  too  commonly  use  the  vilest  means  to  accom- 
plish them.  And  as  they  claim  the  strictest  fidelity, 
it  is  ungenerous,  as  well  as  unjust,  to  fail  of  paying  it. 
All  men  must  feel  how  bitter  it  would  be  to  them  to 
be  injured  in  this  respect;  let  them  think  then  what 
it  is  to  be  injurious  in  it:  and  since  the  crime  is  the 
same  when  committed  by  them,  as  when  committed 
against  them,  let  them  own  that  it  deserves  the  same 
condemnation  from  the  judge  of  the  world.  '  The 
Lord  l:mth  been  witness'  saitli  the  Prophet,  'between 
thee  and  the  wife  of  thy  youth,  against  whom  thou 
dealest  treacherously;  yet  is  she  thy  companion,  and 
the  wife  of  thy  covenant.  Therefore  take  heed  to 
your  spirit  and  let  none  deal  treacherously  with  the 
wife  of  his  youth.  * 

It  will  be  safest,  but  I  hope  it  is  not  necessary  to 
add,  that  an  unmarried  man  or  woman,  offending 
with  the  wife  or  husband  of  any  one,  being  no  less 
guilty  of  adultery  than  the  person  with  whom  the 
offence  is  committed,  is  consequently  an  accomplice 
in  all  the  wickedness  and  all  the  mischief  above 
mentioned ;  and  this  frequently  with  aggravating  cir- 
cumstances of  the  greatest  baseness  and  treachery, 
and  ingratitude  and  cruelty,  that  can  be  imagined. 
Whatever  some  may  plead,  surely  none  can  think 
such  behaviour  defensible;  and  most  surely  they 
will  not  find   it  so:  for  'marriage  is  honourable  in 

a  Prov;  li.  17.  6  Mai.  ii.  14, 15. 

U  2 


218  LECTURE   XXV. 

all;  and  the  bed  undefiled;  but  whoremongers  and 
adulterers  God  will  judge." 

The  crime  of  adultery  being  so  great,  it  follows, 
that  all  improper  familiarities,  which,  though  unde- 
signedly, may  lead  to  adultery;  and  all  imprudent 
behaviour  which  may  give  suspicion  of  it,  is  to  bf 
avoided  as  matter  of  conscience;  that  all  groundless 
jealousy  is  to  be  checked  by  those  who  are  inclined 
to  it,  and  discouraged  by  others,  as  most  henious  in- 
justice; and  that  every  thing  should  be  carefully  ob- 
served by  both  parties,  which  may  endear  them  to 
each  other.  No  persons  therefore  should  ever  enter 
into  the  marriage  bonds  with  such  as  they  cannot 
esteem  and  love:  and  all  persons  who  have  entered 
into  it,  should  use  all  means  not  only  to  preserve 
esteem  and  love,  but  increase  it:  affectionate  condes- 
cension on  the  husband's  part,  cheerful  submission 
on  the  wife's;  mildness  and  tenderness,  prudence  and 
attention  to  their  common  interest,  and  that  of  their 
posterity,  on  both  parts.  It  is  usually,  in  a  great 
measure  at  least  from  the  want  of  these  engaging 
qualities  in  one  or  the  other,  that  falsehood  arises. 
And  if  that  doth  not,  some  other  evil  will;  too  likely 
to  produce  effects  equally  grievous,  and  therefore  to 
be  considered  as  equally  forbidden. 

But  now,  from  the  mutual  fidelity  required  of  mar- 
ried persons,  I  proceed,  secondly,  to  the  chastity  and 
modesty  required  of  all  persons. 

Supposing  that  only  such  as  live  single  were  to  be 
guilty  with  each  other:  yet  by  means  even  of  this 
licentiousness,  in  proportion  as  it  prevails,  the  regu- 
larity and  good  order  of  society  is  overturned,  the 
credit  and  peace  of  families  destroyed,  the  proper 
disposal  of  young  people  in  marriage  prevented,  the 
due  education  of  children  and  provision  for  them 
neglected,  the  keenest  animosities  perpetually  exci- 
ted, and  the  most  shocking  murders  frequently  com- 
mitted, of  the  parties^  themselves,  their  rivals,  their 

a  Heb.  xiii.  4. 


LECTURE  XXV.  219 

innocent  babes:  in  short  every  ("normity  follows  from 
hence,  that  lawless  passion  can  introduce..  For  all 
sins  indeed,  but  especially  this,  lead  persons  on  to 
more  and  greater;  to  all  manner  of  falsehood  to  se- 
cure their  success,  all  manner  of  dishonesty  to  pro- 
vide for  the  expensiveness  of  these  courses,  all  man- 
ner of  barbarity  to  hide  the  shame  or  lighten  the  in- 
conveniences ol'  them:  till  thus  they  become  aban- 
doned to  every  crime,  by  indulghig  this  one. 

But  let  us  consider  the  fital  clfects  of  it  on  the  two 
sexes,  separately.       Women,   that  lose   their  inno- 
cence, which  seldom  fail  of  being  soon  discovered, 
lose    their   good   name   entirely    along   with  it;  are 
marked  out  and  given  up  at  once  to  almost  irrecover- 
able infamy;  and  even  mere  suspicion  hath  in  some 
measure    the  same  bad    consequences    with   certain 
proof.     It  is  doubtless,  extremely  unjust  to  work  up 
mere    imprudences    into    gross    transgressions;    and 
even  the  greatest  transgressors  ought  to   be  treated 
with  all  possible  compassion,  when  they  appear  truly 
penitent.     But,  unless   they  appear  so,  a  wide   dis- 
tinction between  them  and  others  ought  to  be  made. 
And   they  who   contribute,    whether   designedly  or 
thoughtlessly,  to  place  good,  bad,  and  doubtful  char- 
acters all  on  a  level,  do  most  preposterously  obscure 
and  debase  their  own  virtue,  if  they  have  any;  keep 
guilt  in    countenance,    and   defraud   right    conduct 
of  the  peculiar  esteem  which  belongs  to  it:  thus  in- 
juring at  once  the  cause  of  religion  and  morals,  and 
the   interests  of  society.      But  besides    the   general 
disregard,  of  which  vicious  women   will  experience 
not  a  little,  even  in  places  and  times  of  the  most  re- 
laxed ways  of  thinking,  they  have  a  sorer  evil  to  ex- 
pect: of  being  sooner,  or  later,  for  the  most  part  very 
soon,  cast  off  and  abandoned,   with  contempt  and 
scorn,  by  their  seducers.     Or  even  should  they  have 
reparation  made  them   by  marriage;  this  doth  not 
take  away  the  sin  at  all,  and  the  disgrace  but  very 
imperfectly;  not  to  say,  that  it  still  leaves  them  pe- 


220  LECTURE    XXV. 

culiarly  exposed  to  the  reproaches  and  the  jealousy 
of  their  husbands  ever  after. 

And  if  men  that  seduce  women,  are  not  looked  on 
bj  the  world  with  so  much  abhorrence,  as  women 
that  are  seduced,  at  least  they  deserve  to  be  looked 
on  with  greater.  For  there  cannot  easily  be  more 
exquisite  wickedness,  than,  merely  for  gratifying  of 
a  brutal  appetite  or  idle  fancy,  to  change  all  the 
prospect,  which  a  young  person  hath  of  being  happy 
and  respected  through  life  into  guilt,  and  dishonour, 
and  distress,  out  of  which  too  probably  she  will  never 
be  disentangled  under  the  false  and  treacherous  pre- 
tence of  tender  regard.  Ifwe  have  any  feeling  of 
conscience  within  us,  we  must  feel  this  to  be  most 
unworthy  behaviour.  And  if  the  ruler  of  the  world 
hath  any  attention  to  the  moral  character  of  his  ra- 
tional creatures,  which  is  the  noblest  object  of  his 
attention,  that  can  be  conceived,  he  must  shew  it 
on  such  occasions;  and  therefore  may  be  believed 
when  he  saith  he  will. 

But  supposing  men  not  to  corrupt  the  innocent, 
but  to  sin  with  such  alone  as  make  a  profession  of 
sin:  yet  even  this  manner  of  breaking  the  law  of 
God  hath  most  dreadful  consequences.  It  hinders 
the  increase  of  a  nation  in  general.  It  leaves  the 
few  children,  that  proceed  fx'om  these  mixtures, 
abandoned  to  misery,  uselessness,  and  wickedness. 
It  turns  aside  the  minds  of  persons  from  beneficial 
and  laudable  employments  to  mean  sensual  pursuits. 
It  encourages  and  increases  the  most  dissolute,  and 
in  every  sense  abandoned  set  of  wretches  in  the 
world,  common  prostitutes,  to  their  own  miserable 
and  early  destruction  and  that  of  multitudes  of  un- 
wary youths  who  would  else  have  escaped.  It  deba- 
ses the  heart,  by  the  influence  of  such  vile  and  profli- 
gate company,  to  vile  and  profligate  ways  of  think- 
ing and  acting.  It  sometimes  produces  quarrels  that 
are  immediately  fatal:  sometimes  friendships  that 
are  equally  so,  to  every  valuable  purpose  of  life.  It 
leads  men  to  extravagance  and  profusion,  grieves  all 


LECTURE    XXV.  221 

that  wish  them  well,  distresses  those  who  are  to  sup- 
port them,  and  drives  them  to  the  most  criminal 
methods  of  supporting  themselves.  It  tempts  men 
to  excesses  and  irregularities  of  every  kind,  wastes 
their  health  and  strength,  brings  on  them  painful 
and  opprobrious  diseases,  too  often  communicated  to 
those  whom  they  afterwards  marry;  and  to  their  mis- 
erable posterity,  if  they  have  any.  By  all  these  mis- 
chiefs, which  for  the  most  part  come  upon  them  in 
the  beginning  of  their  days,  the  remainder  of  them 
is  usually  made  either  short  or  tedious,  perhaps 
both."  With  great  wisdom  therefore  doth  Solomon 
exhort:  'remove  thy  way  from  the  strange  woman, 
and  come  not  nigh  the  door  of  her  house:  lest  thou 
give  thine  honour  unto  others,  and  thy  years  unto 
the  cruel:  lest  strangers  be  filled  with  thy  wealth, 
and  thou  mourn  at  the  last,  when  thy  flesh  and  thy 
body  are  consumed,  and  say;  how  have  I  hated  in 
struction,  and  my  heart  despised  reproof;  and  I  have 
not  obeyed  the  voice  of  mj' teachers.  For  the  ways 
of  man  are  before  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  and  he  pon- 
dereth  all  his  going.  His  own  iniquities  shall  take 
the  wicked,  and  he  shall  be  liolden  with  the  cords  of 
his  sins.'^ 

It  is  very  true,  the  sins  of  the  flesh  do  not  always 
produce  all  the  bitter  fruits  which  I  have  mentioned. 
But  then  such  instances  of  them,  as  at  iirst  are  imag- 
ined the  safest,  frequently  prove  extremely  hurtful; 
or  however  entice  persons  on  to  worse,  till  they  come 
at  length  to  the  most  flagrant  and  pernicious.  A^ery 
few,  who  transgress  the  scripture  bounds,  ever  stop 
at  those  lengths,  which  themselves,  when  they  set 
out,  thought  the  greatest  that  were  defensible.  Lib- 
erties, taken  by  men  before  marriage,  incline  them 
to  repeat  the  same  liberties  after  marriage;  and  also 
to  entertain  the  most  injurious  jealousies  of  good 
women,  grounded  on  the  knowledge  which  they  have 
formerly  had  of  bad  ones.     Their  past  successes  em- 

0  Wisd,  ii.  1.  b  Prov.  v.  8—13, 21,  22. 


222  LECTURE    XXV. 

bolden  and  incite  them  to  new  and  more  flagitious 
attempts:  and  by  appetites  thus  indulged,  and  habits 
contracted,  they  are  carried  on  perpetually  further 
and  further,  till  they  come  to  be  guilty,  and  some- 
times merely  for  the  sake  and  the  name  of  being 
guilty,  of  what  they  would  once  have  trembled  to 
hear  proposed. 

But  supposing  they  keep  within  the  limits  of  what 
they  at  first  imagined  to  be  allowable;  is  imagina- 
tion (and  reason,  when  biassed  by  passions,  is  noth- 
ing better)  the  test  of  truth?  Supposing  their  beha- 
viour could  be  harmless  otherwise,  is  not  the  example 
dangerous?  Will  or  can  the  world  around  them 
take  notice  of  all  the  pretended  peculiarities  that 
distinguish  their  case,  and  preserve  it  from  being  a 
sin,  while  other  crimes  to  which  at  first  sight  it  is 
very  like,  are  confessedly  great  ones?  or  will  not  all, 
who  have  bad  inclinations  or  unsettled  principles 
take  shelter  under  their  practice,  and  either  despise 
their  refinements,  or  easily  invent  similar  ones  for 
their  own  use? 

But  further  yet:  if  it  be  argned,  that  offences  of 
this  nature  may  by  circumstances  be  rendered  excu- 
sable, why  not  others  also?  why  may  not  robbery, 
why  may  not  murder  be  defended,  by  saying,  that 
though  undoubtedly  in  general  they  are  very  wrong, 
yet  in  such  and  such  particular  occurrences,  there  is 
on  the  whole  very  little  hurt,  or  none  at  all,  done  by 
them,  but  perhaps  good?  And  what  would  become 
of  the  human  race,  were  such  pleas  adn:itted?  The 
ends  of  government  can  be  attained  by  no  other  than 
by  plain,  determinate,  comprehensive  laws,  to  be 
steadily  observed:  and  no  one's  inclinations,  or  fan- 
ciful theories,  are  to  decide,  when  they  bind,  and 
when  not:  but  deviations  from  them  are  criminal,  if 
on  no  otheraccount, yet  because  they  are  deviations: 
though  differently  criminal  indeed  according  to  their 
different  degrees.  Thus  in  the  matter  before  us, 
what  approaches  nearer  to  marriage  is,  ordinarily 
speaking,  so  far  less  blameable,  than  what  is  mere 


LECTURE  XXV.  223 

distant  from  it:  but  notliing  can  be  void  of  blame, 
and  of  great  blame,  that  breaks  the  ordinances  of 
God  and  man.  For  even  the  latter,  if  they  oblige 
the  conscience  in  any  case,  must  oblige  it  in 
this  where  public  and  private  welfare  is  so  es- 
sentially concerned.  And  as  to  the  former,  though 
sensual  irregularities  may  suit  very  well  with  some 
sorts  of  superstition,  yet  their  inconsistence  with  any 
thing  that  deserves  the  name  of  religion,  is  confessed 
in  elfect  bv  the  persons  guilty  of  them.  Foi-  if  some 
few  such  do  hypocritically,  in  vain  hope  of  conceal- 
ment, keep  on  the  appearance  of  it,  yet,  who  amongst 
them  can  preserve  the  reality  of  it?  OtFences  of  this 
kind,  how  plausibly  soever  palliated,  yet,  being  com- 
mitted against  known  prohibitions,  wear  out  of  the 
mind  all  reverence  to  God's  commandments,  all  ex- 
pectation of  his  future  favour,  nay  the  very  desire  of 
spiritual  happiness  hereafter.  And  though  many, 
who  indulge  in  licentiousness,  have  notwithstanding 
very  good  qualities;  yet,  would  they  review  their 
hearts  and  lives,  they  would  find  that  they  had  much 
the  fewer  for  it;  and  that  those  which  remain  are  of- 
ten made  useless,  often  endangered,  often  perverted 
by  it. 

But  the  sins  already  mentioned,  are  by  no  means 
the  only  ones  to  be  avoided  in  consequence  of  this 
commandment:  whatever  invites  to  them,  whatever 
approaches  towards  them,  whatever  is  contrary  to 
decency  and  honour,  whatever  taints  the  purity  of 
the  mind,  Inflames  the  passions,  and  wears  oflf  the 
impressions  of  virtuous  shame;  all  immodesty  of  ap- 
pearance or  behaviour;  all  entertainment,  books, 
pictures,  conversations,  tending  to  excite,  or  excuse 
the  indulgence  of  irregular  desires,  are  in  their  pro- 
portion prohibited  and  criminal.  And  unless  we 
prudently  guard  against  the  smaller  offences  of  this 
kind,  the  more  heinous  will  be  too  likely  to  force 
their  way:  as  our  Lord  very  strongly  warns  us.  "Ye 
have  heard,  it  was  said  by  them  of  old  time,  thou 
fihalt  not  commit  adultery:  but  I  say  unto  you,  that 


224  LECTURE  XXV. 

whosoever  looketh  on  a  woman  to  lust  after  her,  hath 
committed  adultery  with  her  already  in  his  heart.'  " 
And  although  vicious  inclinations  were  never  to  go 
further  than  the  heart:  yet,  if  instead  of  merely  in- 
truding against  our  will,  they  are  designedly  encour- 
aged to  dwell  there,  they  corrupt  the  very  fountain 
of  spiritual  life,  and  none  hut  '  the  pare  in  heart 
shall  see  God.'* 

All  persons  therefore  should  be  very  careful  to  turn 
their  minds  from  forbidden  oljjects,  to  fix  their  atten- 
tion so  constantly  and  steadily  on  useful  and  com- 
mendable employments  as  to  have  no  leisure  for  vi- 
ces, and  to  govern  themselves  by  such  rules  of  tem- 
perance and  prudence,  that  fevery  sensual  appetite 
may  be  kept  in  subjection  to  the  dictates  of  reason 
and  the  laws  of  religion;  always  remembering  that 
Christianity  both  delivers  to  us  the  strictest  precepts 
of  holiness,  and  sets  before  us  the  strongest  motives 
to  it;  our  peculiar  relation  to  a  holy  God  and  Saviour; 
our  being  '  the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost,*^  which 
'temple  if  any  man  defile,  him  will  God  destroy;'  '^ 
our  being  'Pilgrims  and  strangers  on  earth,'*  not 
intended  to  have  our  portion  here,  but  to  inherit  a 
spiritual  happiness  hereafter;  and  'every  one  that 
hath  this  hope,  must  purify  himself,  even  as  God  is 
pure.'-^  I  shall  conclude  therefore  with  St.  Paul's 
exhortation:  'Fornication  and  all  uncleanness,  let 
it  not  be  once  named  among  you,  as  becometh  Saints; 
neither  filthiness,  nor  foolish  talking,  nor  jesting, 
which  are  not  convenient:  for. this  ye  know,  that  no 
whoremonger,  nor  unclean  person,  hath  any  inheri- 
tance in  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  of  God.  Let  no 
man  deceive  you  with  vain  words:  for  because  of 
these  things  cometh  the  wrath  of  God  upon  the  chil- 
dren of  disobedience.  Be  not  ye  therefore  partakers 
with  them:  walk  as  children  of  light,  and  have  no 
fellowship  with  the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness.'  s 

.a  Mattli.  V.  27,  28.       h  Mattli.  v.  8.       c  1  Cor.  vi.  19.       d  1  Cor.  iii.  17. 
el  Pet.  ji.  11.  /  1  Jolin  iii.  3.    g  Epli.  v.  3—11. 


1.ECTURE  xxvr.  225 

LECTURE  XXVI. 

THE  EIGHTH    COM3IANDMENT. 

Under  the  eighth  Commandment  is  comprehended 
our  duty  to  our  neighbor,  in  respect  of  his  worldly 
substance.  And,  to  explain  it  distinctly,  I  shall  en- 
deavor to  shew, 

I.  What  it  forbids:  and 

II.  What,  by  consequence,  it  requires. 

I.  As  to  the  former.  The  wickedness  of  mankind 
hath  invented  ways  to  commit  such  an  astonishing  va- 
riety of  sins  against  this  Commandment,  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  reckon  them  up,  and  dreadful  to  think  of 
them.  But  most,  if  not  all  of  them,  are  so  manifestly 
sins,  that  the  least  reflection  is  enough  to  make  any 
one  sensible,  how  much  he  is  bound  conscientiously 
to  avoid  them.  And  he,  who  desires  to  preserve  him- 
self innocent,  easily  may. ' 

The  most  open  and  shameless  crime  of  this  sort,  is 
robbery;  taking  from  another  what  is  his,  by  force: 
which,  adding  violence  against  his  person  to  invasion 
of  his  property,  and  making  every  part  of  human  life 
unsafe,  is  a  complicated  transgression,  of  very  deep 
guilt. 

The  next  degree  is  secret  theft:  privately  convert- 
ing to  our  own  use  what  is  not  our  own.  To  do  this 
in  matters  of  great  value,  is  confessedly  pernicious 
wickedness.  And  though  it  were  only  in  what  may 
seem  a  trifle;  yet  every  man's  right  to  the  smallest 
part  of  what  belongs  to  him  is  the  same,  as  to  the  lar- 
v;^st:  and  he  ought  no  more  to  be  wronged  of  one 
than  of  the  other.  Besides,  little  instances  of  dishon- 
esty cause  great  disquiet:  make  the  sufferers  mistrust- 
ful of  all  about  them;  sometimes  of  those,  who  are 
the  farthest  from  deserving  it;  make  them  apprehen- 
V 


226  LECTURE  XXVI. 

sive  continually,  that  some  heavier  injury  will  follow.. 
And  indeed  almost  all  offenders  begin  with  slight  of- 
fences. More  heinous  ones  would  shock  them  at  first: 
but  if  they  once  allow  themselves  in  lesser  faults,  they 
go  on  without  reluctance,  by  degrees,  to  worse  and 
worse,  till  at  last  they  scruple  nothing.  Always 
therefore  beware  of  small  sins.  And  always  remem- 
ber, what  I  have  before  observed  to  you,  that  when 
any  thing  is  committed  to  your  care  and  trust,  to  be 
dishonest  in  that  is  peculiarly  base. 

But,  besides,  what  every  body  calls  theft,  there  are 
many  practices,  which  amount  indirectly  to  much  the 
same  thing,  however  disguised  in  the  world  under 
gentler  names.  Thus  in  the  way  of  trade  and  busi- 
ness: if  the  seller  puts  off  any  thing  for  better  than  it 
it  is,  by  false  assertions,  or  deceitful  arts:  if  he  takes 
advantage  of  the  buyer's  ignorance,  or  particular  ne- 
cessities, or  good  opinion  of  him,  to  insist  on  a  larger 
price  for  it  than  the  current  value;  or  if  he  gives  less 
in  quantity  than  he  professes,  or  is  understood  to  give, 
the  frequency  of  some  of  these  things  cannot  alter 
the  nature  of  any  of  them:  no  one  can  be  ignorant, 
that  they  are  wrong,  but  such  as  are  wilfully  or  very 
carelessly  ignorant:  and  the  declaration  of  Scripture 
against  the  last  of  them  is  extended,  in  the  same 
place,  to  every  one  of  the  rest.  '  Thou  shalt  not  have 
in  thy  bag  divers  weights,  a  great  and  a  small:  thou 
shalt  not  have  in  thy  house  divers  measures,  a  great 
and  a  small.  For  all  that  do  such  things,  and  all  that 
do  unrighteously,  are  an  abomination  unto  the  Lord 
thy  God.'  -^ 

On  the  other  hand:  if  the  buyer  takes  advantage 
of  his  own  wealth;  and  the  poverty  or  present  dis- 
tress of  the  seller,  to  beat  down  the  price  of  his  mer- 
chandize beyond  reason:  or  if  he  buys  up  the  whokc 
of  a  commodity,  especially  if  it  be  a  necessary  one,  to 
make  immediate  gain  of  it;  or  if  he  refuses  or  delays 
his  payments  beyond  the  time  within  which,  by  agree- 

aDeut.  XXV.  13 — 16. 


LECTURE    XXVI. 


227 


mentortlie  known  course  of  traftic,  they  ought  to  be 
made:  all  such  behaviour  is  downright  injustice  and 
breach  of  God's  Law.  For  the  rule  is, '  if  thou  scllcst 
auglit  unto  thy  nciglibor,  or  buyest  aught  of  thy 
neighbor's  liand,  ^e  sliall  not  oppress  one  another.' " 

Again:  borrowing  on  fraudulent  securities,  or  false 
representations  of  our  c»rcumstances,  or  without  in- 
tention, or  without  proper  care  afterwards  to  repay; 
preferring  the  gratilication  of  our  covetousness,  our 
vanity,  our  voluptuousness,  our  indolence,  before  the 
satisfying  of  our  just  debts:  all  this  is  palpable  wick- 
edness. And  just  as  bad  is  the  contrary  wickedness, 
of  demanding  exorbitant  interest  for  lending  to  ignor- 
ant or  thoughtless  persons:  or  to  extravagant  ones, 
for  carrying  on  their  extravagance;  or  to  necessitous 
ones,  whose  necessities  it  must  continually  increase, 
and  make  their  ruin,  after  a  while,  more  certain, 
more  difficult  to  retrieve,  and  more  hurtful  to  all  with 
whom  they  are  concerned.  The  Scripture  hath  par- 
ticularly forbidden  it  in  the  last  case,  and  enjoined  a 
very  different  sort  of  behaviour.  '  If  thy  brother  be 
waxen  poor,  and  fallen  in  decay  with  thee,  then  shalt 
thou  relieve  him:  yea,  though  he  be  a  stranger,  or  a 
sojourner.  Thou  shalt  not  give  him  thy  money  upon 
usury,  nor  lend  him  thy  victuals  for  increase ;  but  fear 
thy  God,  that  thy  brother  may  dwell  with  thee.'  *  And 
the  Psalmist  hath  expressed  the  two  opposite  charac- 
ters, on  these  occasions,  very  briefly  and  clearly. — 
'The  wicked  borroweth,  and  paj'cthnot  again:  but 
the  righteous  sheweth  mercy,  and  giveth.'  "^ 

Another  crying  iniquity  is,  when  hired  servants, 
laborers,  or  workmen  of  any  sort,  are  ill  used  in  their 
wages:  whether  by  giving  them  too  little:  or,  which 
is  often  full  as  bad,  deferring  it  too  long.  The  word 
of  God  forbids  the  last  in  very  strong  terms.  '  Thou 
shalt  not  defraud  thy  neighbor,  neither  rob  him:  the 
wages  of  him  that  is  hired,  shall  not  abide  with  thee,' 
meaning  if  demanded,  or  wanted,  '  all  night  until  the 

J  Lev.  ssv.  14  i  Lev.  XXV.  35,  &c.  c  Psal.  xx.wi.  21. 


228  LECTURE    XXVI, 

morning.' «  '  At  his  day  thou  shalt  give  him  his  hire; 
neither  shall  the  sun  go  down  upon  it;  for*  he  is  poor, 
and  setteth  his  heart  upon  it:  lest  he  cry  against  thee 
unto  the  Lord,  and  it  be  sin  unto  thee.'  *=  Nay,  the 
son  of  Sirach  carries  it,  with  reason,  (as  I  observed  to 
you  on  the  sixth  commandment,)  further  still.  '  The 
bread  of  the  needy  is  their  life:  he  that  defraudeth 
the  laborer  of  his  hire,  is  a  blood-shedder.'  '^ 

But,  besides  all  these  instances  of  unrighteousness, 
there  are  many  more  that  are  frequent,  in  all  kinds 
of  contracts.  Driving  bargains  that  we  know  are  too 
hard;  or  insisting  rigidly  on  the  performance  of  them, 
after  they  appear  to  be  so:  making  no  abatements, 
when  bad  times,  or  unexpected  losses,  or  other  alte- 
rations of  circumstances  call  for  them:  not  inquiring 
into  the  grounds  of  complaints,  when  there  is  a  likeli- 
hood of  their  being  just:  throwing  unreasonable  bur- 
thens upon  others,  merely  because  they  dare  not  re- 
fuse them:  keeping  them  to  the  very  words  and  let- 
ter of  an  agreement,  contrary  to  the  equitable  inten- 
tion of  it:  or,  on  the  other  hand,  alleging  some  flaw 
and  defect  in  form,  to  get  loose  from  an  agreement, 
which  ought  to  have  been  strictly  observed:  all  these 
things  are  grievous  oppression.  And  though  some  of 
them  may  not  be  in  the  least  contrary  to  law,  yet 
they  are  utterly  irreconcilable  with  good  conscience. 
Human  laws  cannot  provide  for  all  cases,  and  some- 
times the  vilest  iniquities  may  be  committed  under 
their  authority,  and  by  their  means. 

It  is  therefore  a  further  lamentable  breach  of  this 
commandment,  when  one  person  puts  another  to  the 
charge  and  hazard  of  law,  unjustly  or  needlessly;  or 
in  ever  so  necessary  a  law-suit,  occasions  unnecessary 
expenses,  and  contrives  unfair  delays:  in  short,  when 
any  thing  is  done  by  either  party:  by  the  counsel, 
that  plead  or  advise  in  the  cause,  or  by  the  judge, 
who  determines  it  contrary  to  real  justice  and  equity. 

a  Lev.  xix.  13.  b  For — or,  when.  c  Deut.  x.xiv.  15, 

d  Ecclus.xxxiv. 21,  22 


LECTURE   XXVI. 


229 


Indeed  when  persons,  by  any  means  whatever,  with- 
hold from  another  his  right;  cither  keeping  him  igno- 
rant of  it,  or  forcing  him  to  unreasonable  cost  or 
trouble  to  obtain  it;  tliis,  in  its  proportion,  is  the  same 
kind  of  injury  with  stealing  from  him.  To  see  the 
rich  and  great,  in  these  or  any  ways,  bear  hard  upon 
the  poor,  is  very  dreadful:  and  truly  it  is  little,  if  at 
all,  less  so,  when  the  lower  sort  of  people  are  unmer- 
ciful, as  they  are  but  too  often,  one  to  another.  For, 
as  Solomon  observes,  '  a  poor  man,  that  oppresseth 
the  poor,  is  like  a  sweeping  rain,  which  leaveth  no 
food.'  <^  But  if  it  be  a  person  ever  so  wealthy,  that  is 
wronged,  still  his  wealth  is  his  own:  and  no  one  can 
have  more  right  to  take  the  least  part  of  it  from  him, 
without  his  consent,  than  to  rob  the  meanest  wretch 
in  the  world.  Suppose  it  be  a  body  or  number  of 
men;  suppose  it  to  be  the  government,  the  public 
that  is  cheated;  be  it  of  more  or  less,  be  it  so  little  as 
not  to  be  sensibly  missed;  let  the  guilt  be  divided 
among  ever  so  many;  let  the  practice  be  ever  so 
common;  still  it  is  the  same  crime,  however  it  may 
vary  in  degrees;  and  the  rule  is  without  exception, 
that '  no  man  go  beyond,  or  defraud  his  brother  in  any 
matter.'  * 

It  surely  needs  to  be  added,  that  whatever  things 
it  is  unlawful  to  do,  it  is  also  unlawful  to  advise,  en- 
courage, help,  or  protect  others  in  doing;  that  buying, 
receiving,  or  concealing  stolen  goods,  knowing  them 
to  be  such,  is  becoming  a  partner  in  the  stealth:  and 
that  being  any  way  a  patron,  assistant,  or  tool  of  in- 
justice, is  no  less  evidently  wrong,  than  being  the  im- 
mediate and  principal  agent  in  it. 

And  as  the  wrongness  of  all  these  things  is  very 
plain,  so  is  the  folly  of  them.  Common  robbers  and 
thieves  are  the  most  miserable  set  of  wretches  upon 
earth:  in  perpetual  danger,  perpetual  frights  and 
alarms;  obliged  to  support  their  spirits  by  continual 
excesses,  which,  after  the  gay  madness  of  a  few  hours, 

a  ProT.  xxviii.  3.  6  1  Thess.  iv.  6. 

V  2 


*330  LECTURE  XXVI* 

depress  them  to  the  most  painful  lowness;  confined  to 
the  most  hateful  and  hellish  society;  very  soon,  gen- 
erally speaking,  betrayed  by  their  dearest  compan- 
ions, or  hunted  out  by  vigilant  othcers;  then  shut  up 
in  horror,  condemned  to  open  shame,  if  not  to  an  un- 
timely death;  and  the  more  surely  undone  forever  in 
the  next  life,  the  more  insensible  they  are  of  their 
sufferings  and  their  sins  in  this. 

Nor  do  they,  of  whose  guilt  the  law  can  take  little 
or  no  cognizance,  escape  a  heavy  and  bitter  sclf- 
condemation,  from  time  to  time:  nor  usually  the 
bad  opinion  of  the  world:  which  last  alone  will  fre- 
quently do  them  more  harm,  than  any  unfair  practices 
will  do  them  good.  But  especially  this  holds  in  the 
middle  and  lower,  which  is  vastly  the  larger,  part  of 
mankind.  Their  livelihood  depends  chiefly  on  their 
character;  and  their  character  depends  upon  their 
honesty.  This  will  make  amends  for  many  other  de- 
fects; but  nothing  will  make  amends  for  the  want  of 
this.  Deceitful  craft  may  seem  perhaps  a  shorter 
method  of  gain,  than  uprightness  and  diligence.  But 
they,  who  get  wickedly,  spend  for  the  most  part,  fool- 
ishly, perhaps  wickedly  too:  and  so  all  that  stays  by 
them  is  their  guilt.  Or  let  them  be  ever  so  cunning, 
and  appear  for  a  while  to  thrive  ever  so  fast;  yet  re- 
member the  sayings  of  the  wise  king:  '  an  inherit- 
ance may  be  gotten  hastily  at  the  beginning:  but  the 
end  thereof  shall  not  be  blessed.'  '^  '  Treasures  of 
wickedness  profit  nothing:  but  righteousness  delivcr- 
eth  from  death.' ^  '  Wealth,  gotten  by  vanity,  shall  be 
diminished;  but  he  that  gathereth  by  labor,  shall  in- 
crease.'*=  Or,  should  the  prosperity  of  persons  who 
raise  themselves  by  ill  means,  last  as  long  as  their 
lives;  yet  their  lives  may  be  cut  short.  For  what 
the  prophet  threatens,  often  comes  to  pass,  and  is  al- 
ways to  be  feared:  '  He  that  gettelh  riches,  and  not 
by  right,  shall  leave  them  in  the  midst  of  his  days, 
and  at  his  end  shall  be  a  fool.'''  But  should  his  days 
on  earth  be  extended  to  the  utmost,  yet    '  the  sinner, 

a  Prov.  XX.  21.      b  Prov.  x.  2.      c  Picv.  xUi.  11         d  Jer.  xvii.  11. 


LECTURE    XXVI.  231 

an   hundred  years  old,  shall  be  accursed.' "   'For  the 
unrighteous  shall  not  inherit  tiie  kingdom  of  God:'* 
but  '  the  Lord  is  the  avenger  of  all  such.'"^ 

Let  every  one  therefore  consider  seriously,  in  the 
lirst  place,  what  this  Commandment  forbids,  and  ab- 
stain from  it.  Though  he  fare  more  hardy;  though 
he  lay  up  less;  though  he  be  despised  for  his  consci- 
entiousness, provided  it  be  a  reasonable  one:  surely 
it  is  well  worth  while  to  bear  these  things,  rather 
than  injure  our  fellow-creatures,  and  olTend  our 
Maker. 

But  let  us  now  proceed  to  consider, 

IL  What  the  Commandment  before  us,  by  conse- 
quence, requires.     And 

L  It  requires  restitution  of  whatever  we  have,  at 
any  time,  unjustly  taken  or  detained.  For,  that  be- 
ing in  right  not  our  own,  but  another's,  keeping  it  is 
continuing  and  carrying  on  the  injustice.  Therefore, 
the  prophet  Ezckiel  makes  it  an  express  condition  of 
forgiveness:  '  if  the  wicked  restore  the  pledge,  and 
give  again  that  he  ha(h  robbed;  then  he  shall  surely 
live,  he  shall  not  die.'  '^  Nor  was  it  till  Zaccheus  had 
engaged  to  restore  amply  what  he  had  extorted  from 
any  one,  that  our  Saviour  declared,  '  This  day  is  sal- 
vation come  to  this  house.'''  So  that  to  think  of  rais- 
ing wealth  by  fraud,  and  then  growing  honest,  is  the 
silliest  scheme  in  the  world:  for  till  we  have  return- 
ed, or  offered  to  return,  as  far  as  we  can,  all  that  we 
have  got  by  our  fraud,  we  are  not  honest.  Nay,  sup- 
pose we  have  spent  and  squandered  it,  still  we  remain 
debtors  for  it.  Nay  suppose  we  got  nothing,  suppose 
we  meant  to  get  nothing,  by  any  wicked  contrivances, 
in  which  we  have  been  concerned ;  yet  if  we  have  caus- 
ed another's  loss,  any  loss  for  which  money  is  a  pro- 
per compensation;  what  we  ought  never  to  have  done, 
we  ought  to  undo  as  soon  and  as  completely  as  we 
are  able,  however  we  straighten  ourselves  by  it;  oth- 
erwise we  come  short  of  making  the  amends  which 

a  Isa.  Ixv.  20.       b  1  Cor.  vi.  9.     c  I  Thcs3.  iv.  6.     i  Ezck.  ssxiii.  15. 
c  Luke  six.  8,  9. 


232  LECTURE    XXVI. 

may  justly  be  expected  from  us:  and  while  so  import- 
ant a  part  of  repentance  is  wanting,  to  demonstrate 
the  sincerity  of  the  rest,  we  cannot  hope  to  be  ac- 
cepted with  God. 

2.  This  Commandment  also  requires  industry:  with- 
out which,  the  generality  of  persons  cannot  maintain 
themselves  honestly.  Therefore  St.  Paul  directs:  '  let 
him  that  stole,  steal  no  more:  but  rather  let  him,  (and 
certainly,  by  consequence, every  one  else  that  needs,) 
labor,  working  with  his  hands  the  thing  which  is 
good.'  '^  And  each  of  them  is  to  labor,  not  only  for 
himself,  but  his  family  also,  if  he  hath  one:  both  for 
their  present,  and  if  possible,  their  future  mainten- 
ance, in  case  of  sickness,  accidents,  or  old  age.  For 
as  they,  who  belong  to  him,  have,  both  by  nature  and 
by  law,  a  claim  to  support  from  him,  if  they  need 
it,  and  he  can  give  it;  neglecting  to  make  due  provi- 
sion for  them  is  wronging  them;  and  tiirowing  either 
them  or  himself  upon  others,  when  he  may  avoid  it, 
or  however  might  have  avoided  it,  by  proper  dili- 
gence, is  wronging  others.  For  which  reason  the 
same  apostle,  commanded  likewise,  that  '  if  any  one 
would  not  work,  neither  should  he  eat.'  * 

In  order  to  be  just,  therefore,  be  industrious:  and 
doubt  not  but  you  will  find  it,  after  a  Avhile  at  least, 
by  much  the  most  comfortable,  as  well  as  christian 
way  of  getting  a  livelihood.  It  is  a  way,  that  no 
one  ought  to  think  beneath  him.  For  '  better  is  he 
that  laboreth,  and  aboundeth  in  all  things;  than  he 
that  boasteth  himself,  and  wanteth  bread.' «  It  is  the 
best  preservative,  that  can  be,  from  bad  company, 
and  bad  courses.  It  procures  the  good  will  and  good 
word  of  mankind.  It  exempts  persons  from  the  con- 
tempt and  reproach  of  which  those  have  bitter  expe- 
rience who  make  a  dependant  state  their  choice. 
*  Begging  is  sweet  in  the  mouth  of  the  shameless:  but 
in  his  belly  there  shall  burn  a  fire.'  '^  Very  different 
from  this,  is  the  case  of  the  industrious.  Their  minds 

a  Eph.  iv.  28.     b  2  Tlsess.  iii.  10.     c  Ecclus.  x.  27.     d  EccUis.  xl.  30. 


LECTURE    XXVI.  233 

arc  at  ease:  Ihcir  bodies  are  usually  healthy:  their 
time  is  employed  as  they  know  it  should:  what  they 
get  they  enjoy  with  a  good  conscience,  and  it  wears 
well.  Nov  do  only  tl;e  fruits  of  their  labor  delight 
them:  but  even  labor  itself  becomes  pleasant  to  them. 

And  though  persons  of  higher  condition  are  not 
bound  to  '  work  with  their  hands;'  yet  they  must  be 
diligent  in  other  ways;  in  the  business  of  their  offices 
and  professions;  or,  if  they  have  none,  yet  in  the  care 
of  their  families  and  alFairs.  Else  the  former  will  be 
ill-governed,  wicked,  and  miserable:  and  the  latter 
soon  run  into  such  disorder  as  will  almost  force  them, 
either  to  be  unjust  to  their  creditors,  and  those  for 
whom  nature  binds  them  to  provide;  or  to  be  guilty 
of  mean  and  dishonorable  actions  of  more  kinds  than 
one,  to  avoid  these  and  other  disagreeable  consequen- 
ces of  their  supineness.  Besides,  as  the  upper  part 
of  the  world  are  peculiarly  destined  by  providence  to 
be  in  one  way  or  another  extensively  useful  in  socie- 
ty: such  of  them  as  are  not,  defraud  it  of  the  services 
they  owe  it,  and  therefore  break  this  Commandment. 
But, 

3.  To  observe  it  well,  frugality  must  be  joined  with 
industry:  else  it  will  all  be  labor  in  vain.  For  unwise 
expensiveness  will  dissipate  whatever  the  utmost  di- 
ligence can  acquire.  But  if  idleness  be  added  to  ex- 
travagance, that  brings  on  quick  ruin.  And  if  in- 
temperance and  debauchery  go  along  with  them,  the 
case  is  then  come  to  its  extremity.  Every  one  there- 
fore, who  desires  to  approve  himself  honest,  should 
be  careful  to  live  within  the  bounds  of  his  income,  so 
as  to  have  something  in  readiness  against  the  time  of 
inability  and  unforeseen  events.  But  they  who  have, 
or  design  to  have  families,  should  endeavor  to  live  a 
good  deal  within  those  bounds.  And  whoever  spends 
upon  himself,  or  throws  away  upon  any  other  person  or 
thing,  more  than  he  can  prudently  afford,  (whatever 
false  names  of  praise,  as  elegance,  generosity,  good- 
nature, may  be  given  to  this  indiscretion)  will  be  led, 
before  he  is  aware,  to  distress  himself,  perhaps  many 


234 


LECTURE    XXVII. 


more;  and  be  too  probably  driven  at  last  to  repair,  as 
well  as  he  can,  by  wickedness,  the  breaches,  which  he 
liatli  made  by  folly. 

4.  This  Commandment  requires  in  the  last  place, 
that  we  neither  deny  ourselves,  or  those  who  belong 
to  us,  what  is  fit  for  our  and  their  station,  which  is 
one  kind  of  robbery;  nor  omit  to  relieve  the  poor  ac- 
cording? to  our  ability,  which  is  another  kind.  For 
whatever  we  enjo}^  of  worldly  plenty  is  given  us  in 
trust,  that  we  siiould  lake  our  own  share  with  moder- 
ation, and  distribute  out  the  remainder  with  liberali- 
ty. And  as  they,  who  have  but  little,  will,  most  or  all 
of  them,  at  one  time  or  another,  find  those  who  have 
less;  very  few,if  any, are  exempted  from  giving  some 
alms.  And  whoever  either  penuriously  or  thought- 
lessly neglects  his  proper  share  of  his  duty,  is  unjust 
to  his  Maker  and  his  fellow-creatures  too.  For  the 
good  which  God  hath  placed  in  our  hands  for  the 
poor,  is  undoubtedly  as  the  Scripture  declares  it, 
'  their  due.'  He  hath  given  them  no  right  to  seize 
it;  but  he  hath  bound  us  not  to  '  withhold'  '*  it  from 
them. 

And  now,  having  llnished  the  two  heads  proposed, 
I  shall  only  add,  that  by  observing  these  directions 
from  a  principle  of  christian  faith;  and  teaching:  all 
under  our  care  to  observe  them  from  the  same;  the 
poor  in  this  world  may  be  '  rich  towards  God:'*  and 
the  rich  may  '  treasure  up  in  store  for  themselves  a 
good  foundation  against  the  time  to  come,'  which  will 
enable  them  to  'lay  hold  on  eternal  life.''' 


LECTURE   XXVII. 

THE    NINTH    COMMANDMENT. 

The  ninth  Commandment  is  connected  with  every 
one  of  the  four  which  precede  it.     For   neither  the 

a  Prov.  iii.  27  h  Luke  xli.  21;  c  1  Tim.  vi.  19. 


LECTURE    XXVII,  235 

duties  of  superiors  and  inferiors,  nor  those  amongst 
equals,  could  bo  tolerably  practiced;  neither  the 
lives  of  men,  nor  their  happiness  in  the  nearest  rela- 
tion of  life,  nor  their  possessions  and  properties  could 
ever  be  secure;  if  they  were  left  exposed  to  those  in- 
juries of  a  licentious  tongue,  which  arc  here  prohib- 
ited. This  Commandmrnt  therefore  was  intended, 
partly  to  strengthen  the  foregoing  ones;  and  partly, 
also,  to  make  provision  for  every  person's  just  charac- 
ter on  its  own  account,  as  well  as  for  the  sake  of  con- 
sequences. For,  independently  on  these,  wc  have  by 
nature,  (and  with  reason,)  a  great  concern  about  our 
reputations.  And  therefore  the  precept,  '  thou  shalt 
not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbor,'  is  in  all 
views  of  much  importance. 

The  crime,  at  which  these  words  principally  and 
most  expressly  point,  is  giving  false  evidence  in  any 
cause  or  trial.  And  as,  in  such  cases,  evidence  hath 
always  been  given  upon  oath;  this  Commandment, 
so  far,  is  the  same  with  the  third:  only  there,  perjury 
is  forbidden,  as  impiety  against  God:  here,  as  injuri- 
ous to  men.  Now  we  are  guilty  of  this  sin,  if,  in  bear- 
ing witness,  we  affirm  that  we  know  or  believe  any 
thing  which  we  do  not;  or  deny  that  we  know  or  be- 
lieve any  thing,  which  we  do;  or  either  affirm  or  de- 
ny more  positively,  than  wc  have  good  grounds.  Nay, 
if  we  only  stitle,  by  our  silence,  any  fact,  which  is 
material,  though  wc  are  not  examined  particularly 
about  it;  still  when  we  have  sworn  in  general  to 
speak  the  whole  truth,  wc  bear  false  witness,  if  we 
designedly  avoid  it;  especially  after  being  asked,  if 
we  are  able  to  say  any  thing  besides,  relative  to  the 
point  in  question.  For  hiding  the  truth  may  as  total- 
ly mislead  those  who  are  to  judge,  as  telling  an  un- 
truth. Indeed,  if  by  any  means  whatever  we  disguise 
the  real  state  of  the  case,  instead  of  relating  it  in  the 
fairest  and  plainest  manner  that  we  can;  we  evident- 
ly transgress  the  intent  of  this  Commandment.  And 
by  doing  it,  the  good  name,  the  properly,  the  liveli- 


236  LECTURE    XXVIl. 

hood,  the  life  of  an  innocent  person  may  be  taken 
av/ay;  the  advantages  of  society  defeated,  nay,  per- 
verted into  mischiefs,  and  the  very  bonds  of  it  dis- 
solved. Therefore  the  rule  of  the  Mosaic  law  is:  'if 
a  false  witness  rise  up  against  any  man,  and  testify 
against  his  brother  that  which  is  wrong;  then  shall 
ye  do  unto  him,  as  he  had  thought  to  have  done  unto 
his  brother,  and  thine  eye  shall  not  pity.' '^  With  us, 
indeed,  the  punishment  extends  not  so  far.  But  how- 
ever mild  such  persons  may  find  the  penalties  of  hu- 
man laws  to  be,  or  how  artfully  soever  they  may  evade 
them;  God  hath  declared:  '  a  false  witness  shall  not 
be  unpunished:  and  he  that  speaketh  lies,  shall  not 
escape.'  * 

The  Commandment  saith  only,  that  we  shall  not 
bear  false  witness  against  our  neighbor:  but  in  effect 
it  binds  us  equally  not  to  bear  false  witness  for  him. 
For  in  all  trials  of  property,  bearing  witness  for  one 
party  is  bearing  w  itness  against  the  other.  And  in  all 
trials  for  crimes,  false  evidence,  to  the  advantage  of 
the  person  accused,  is  to  the  disadvantage  and  ruin  of 
right  and  truth,  of  public  safety  and  peace;  by  con- 
cealing and  encouraging  what  ought  to  be  detected 
and  punished. 

It  being  thus  criminal  to  bear  false  witness;  it  must 
be  criminal  also  to  draw  persons  into  the  commission 
of  so  great  a  sin,  by  gifts,  or  promise,  or  threatening?, 
or  any  other  method.  And  in  its  degree,  it  must  be 
criminal  to  bring  a  false  accusation,  or  false  action, 
against  any  one:  or  to  make  any  sort  of  demand,  for 
which  there  is  no  reasonable  ground. 

Nay,  further,  however  favourably  persons  are  apt 
to  think  of  the  defendant's  side;  yet  to  defend  our- 
selves against  justice,  or  even  to  deny  it  by  unfair 
methods,  is  very  wicked.  For  it  ought  to  take  place; 
and  the  sooner  the  better.  Still,  both  the  professors 
of  the  law,  and  others  may  unquestionably  say  and 
do,  for  a  doubtful  or  a  bad  cause,  whatever  can  be 

a  Dcut.  six.  16 — 21.  b  Prov.  six.  5. 


LECTURE  xxvir.  ^37 

said  with  truth,  or  done  with  equity:  for  otherwise  it 
might  be  thought  still  worse  than  it  is;  and  treated 
worse  than  it  deserves.  But  if  they  do,  in  any  cause, 
what  in  reason  ought  not  to  be  done;  if  they  use  or 
suggest  indirect  methods  of  defeating  the  intent  of 
the  law:  if  by  false  colours  and  glosses,  by  terrifying 
or  confounding  witnesses,  by  calumni-ating  or  ridicu- 
ling the  adverse  party,  they  endeavour  to  make  jus- 
tice itself  an  instrument  for  patronizing  injustice; 
this  is  '  turning  judgment  into  gall,'  as  the  Scripture 
expresses  it,  'and  the  Iruit  of  righteousness  into  hem- 
lock.''* 

But  in  a  still  higher  degree  is  it  so,  if  judges  or 
jurymen  are  influenced,  in  giving  their  sentence  or 
verdict,  by  interest,  relation,  friendship,  hatred, 
compassion,  parly:  by  any  thing,  but  the  nature  of 
the  case,  as  it  fairly  appears  to  them.  For  designed- 
ly making  a  filse  determination,  is  completing  all 
the  mischief,  which  bearing  talse  witness  only  at- 
tetnpts.  And,  in  a  word,  whoever  any  way  promotes 
what  is  wrong,  or  obstructs  what  is  right,  partakes  in 
the  same  sin:  be  it  either  of  tlie  parties,  their  evi- 
dences or  agents;  be  it  the  highest  magistrate,  or 
the  lowest  olHcer. 

But  persons  may  break  this  commandment,  not  only 
injudicial  proceedings;  but,  ot'ten  full  as  grievously, 
in  common  discourse:  by  raising,  spreading,  or  coun- 
tenancing false  reports  against  others;  or  such,  as 
they  have  no  sufhcient  cause  to  think  true;  which  is 
the  case,  in  part  at  least,  of  most  reports:  by  misrep- 
resenting their  circumstances  in  the  world  to  their 
prejudice;  or  speaking,  without  foundation,  to  the 
disadvantage  of  their  persons,  understandings,  ac- 
complishments, temper,  or  conduct:  whether  charg- 
ing them  with  faults  and  imperfections,  which  do  not 
belong  to  them;  or  taking  from  them  good  qualities 
and  recommendations,  which  do;  or  aggravating  the 
former,  or  diminishing   the  hitter:  determining  their 

o  Amos  vi.  12.   ■ 

W 


238 


LECTUKE   XXVir. 


characters  from  a  single  bad  action  or  two;  fixing  ill 
names  on  things,  which  are  really  virtuous  or  inno- 
cent in  them;  imputing  their  laudable  behaviour  to 
blameable  or  worthless  motives;  making  no  allow- 
ance for  the  depravity  or  weakness  of  human  nature, 
strength  of  temptation,  want  of  instruction,  wicked 
insinuations,  vicious  examples.  And  in  all  these 
ways,  persons  may  be  injured,  either  by  open  public 
assertions;  or  more  dangerously  perhaps,  by  secret 
whispers,  which  they  have  no  opportunity  of  contra- 
dicting. The  scandal  may  be  accompanied  with 
strong  expressions  of  hoping  it  is  not  true,  or  being 
very  sorry  for  it;  and  warm  declarations  of  great 
good  will  to  the  party,  whom  it  concerns:  all  which 
may  serve  only  to  give  it  a  more  unsuspected  credit. 
Nay,  it  may  be  conveyed  very  effectually  in  dark 
hints,  expressive  gestures,  or  even  affected  silence. 
And  these,  as  they  may  be  equally  mischievous,  are 
not  less  wicked,  for  being  more  cowardly  and  more 
artful  methods  of  defamation. 

Further  yet:  speaking  or  intimating  things  to  any 
person's  disadvantage,  though  they  be  true,  is  seldom 
innocent.  For  it  usually  proceeds  from  bad  princi- 
ples: revenge,  envy,  malice,  pride,  consoriousness; 
unfair  zeal  for  some  private  or  party  interest:  or  at 
best,  from  a  desire  of  appearing  to  know  more  than 
others,  or  mere  impertinent  fondness  of  talking.  Now 
these  are  wretched  motives  for  publishing  what  will 
be  hurtful  to  one  of  our  brethren.  Sometimes,  in- 
deed, bad  characters  and  bad  actions  ought  to  be 
known:  but  much  oftener  not,  or  not  to  all  the  world, 
or  not  by  our  means.  And  we  have  need  to  be  very 
careful  from  what  inducements  we  act  in  such  a  case. 
Sometimes  again  things  are  known  already;  or  soon 
will  be  known,  let  us  be  ever  so  silent  about  them: 
and  then,  to  be  sure,  we  are  at  more  liberty.  But 
even  then,  to  take  a  pleasure  in  relating  the  faults  of 
others  is  by  no  means  right.  And  to  reveal  them, 
when  they  can  be  hid,  unless  a  very  considerable 
reason  require  it,  is  extremely  wrong. 


LECTURE    XXVII.  239 

Indeed  we  should  be  cautious,  not  only  what  harm, 
but  what  good  we  say  of  others.  For  speaking  too 
highly  of  their  characters  or  circumstances,  or  prais- 
ing them  in  any  respect  beyond  truth,  is  'bearing 
false  witness'  about  them,  which  may  sometims  turn 
against  them,  and  may  often  mislead  those,  to  whom 
we  exalt  tlu;in  thus;  and  produce  grievously  bad  con- 
sequences of  many  kinds.  But  the  other  is  much 
the  moic  common,  and  usually  the  more  hurtful,  ex- 
treme. 

We  all  think  it  an  injury,  in  the  tenderest  part, 
when  bad  impressions  are  made  on  others  concerning 
us;  and  therefore  should  conscientiously  avoid  doing 
the  same  iujury  to  others:  making  them  designedly, 
W'ithout  a  cause,  is  inexcusable  wickedness.  And 
even  where  we  intend  no  harm,  we  may  do  a  great 
deal.  Whatever  hurts  in  any  respect,  the  reputa- 
tion of  persons,  always  gives  them  great  pain,  and 
often  doth  them  great  prejudice,  even  in  their  most 
important  concerns.  For  indeed  almost  every  thing 
in  this  world  depends  on  character:  And  when 
once  that  hath  suffered  an  imputation;  for  the  most 
part,  neither  the  persons  calumniated,  be  they  ever 
so  innocent,  can  recover  it  completely  by  their  own 
endeavours,  nor  the  persons  who  have  wronged  them, 
be  they  ever  so  desirous,  restore  it  fully  to  its  former 
state:  though  certainly  they,  who  rob  others  of  their 
good  name,  or  even  without  design  asperse  it,  are 
full  as  much  bound  to  make  restitution  for  that,  as 
for  any  other  damage  which  they  cause.  But  were 
they  not  to  hurt  at  all  the  person  against  whom  they 
speak,  still  they  hurt  tliemselvcs,  and  lessen  the  pow- 
er of  doing  good  in  the  world;  they  often  hurt  their 
innocent  iamilies  by  the  provocations  which  they 
give;  they  grieve  their  friends;  they  set  a  mischiev- 
ous example  in  society;  and,  if  they  profess  any  re- 
ligion, bring  a  dreadful  reproach  upon  it,  by  a  tem- 
per and  behaviour  so  justly  hateful  to  mankind. 

It  will  be  easily  understood,  that,  next  to  the  rais- 
ers and  spreaders  of  ill  reports,  they  who  encourage 


'24:0  LECTURE    XXVII. 

persons  of  that  kind,  by  hearkening  to  them  with 
pleasure,  and  by  readiness  of  behef  in  what  they  say, 
contradict  the  intention  of  this  commandment.  In- 
deed we  ought,  far  from  countenancing  scandal  and 
detraction,  to  express,  in  all  proper  ways,  our  dislike 
of  it:  shew  the  uncertainty,  the  improbability,  the 
falsehood,  if  we  can,  of  injurious  rumours;  oppose  the 
divulging  even  of  truths  that  are  uncharitable;  and 
set  a  pattern  of  giving  every  one  his  just  praise. 

It  must  now  be  observed  further,  that  though  un- 
doubtedly those  falsehoods  are  the  worst,  which  hurt 
others  the  most  directly,  yet  falsehoods  in  general  arc 
hurtful  and  wrong.  And  therefore  lying;  all  use 
either  of  words  or  actions  of  known  settled  import, 
with  purpose  to  deceive;  is  unlawful.  And  those 
offences  of  this  kind,  which  may  seem  the  most  harm- 
less, have  yet  commonly  great  evil  in  them.  Lying 
destroys  the  very  end  of  speech,  and  leads  us  into 
perpetual  mistakes,  by  the  very  means  which  God 
intended  should  lead  us  into  truth.  It  puts  an  end 
to  all  the  pleasure,  all  the  benefit,  all  the  safety  of 
conversation.  Nobody  can  know,  on  what  or  whom 
to  depend.  For  if  one  person  may  lie,  why  not  anoth- 
er? And  at  this  rate,  no  justice  can  be  done,  no 
wickedness  be  prevented  or  punished,  no  business 
go  forward.  All  these  mischiefs  will  equally  follow, 
whether  untruths  be  told  in  a  gross  barefaced  manner, 
or  disguised  under  equivocations,  quibbles,  and  eva- 
sions. The  sin  therefore  is  as  great  in  one  ease  as 
the  other.  And  it  is  so  great  in  both,  that  no  suffi- 
cient excuses  can  ever  be  made  for  it  in  either, 
though  several  are  often  pleaded. 

Many  persons  imagine,  that  when  they  have  com- 
mitted a  fault,  it  is  very  pardonable  to  conceal  it  un- 
der a  lie.  But  some  faults  ought  not  to  be  concealed 
at  all;  and  none  by  this  method:  which  is  committing 
two,  instead  of  one:  and  the  second  not  uncommonly 
worse  than  the  first.  An  ingenuous  confession  will 
be  likely,  in  most  cases,  to  procure  an  easy  pardon: 
but  a  lie  is  a  monstrous  aggravation  of  an  offence  j 


LfiCTunE  xxvii.  241 

and  [lersisting  in  a  lie  can  very  liardly  be  forgiven. 
But  above  all,  iTany  persons^,  to  liide  what  they  have 
(lone  amiss  themselves,  arc  so  vile  as  to  throw  the 
blame  or  the  suspicion  of  it  upon  another;  this  is  the 
lieight  of  wickedness.  And  therefore  particularly  all 
children  and  servants,  who  are  chielly  tempted  to 
excuse  themselves  by  telling  falsehoods,  ought  to  un- 
dergo any  thing,  rather  than  be  guilty  of  such  a  sin. 
And  on  the  other  hand,  all  parents,  masteis,  and  mis- 
tresses, ought  to  beware,  of  punishing  them  too 
severely  for  their  other  olfences;  lest  they  drive  them 
into  a  habit  of  this  terrible  one. 

Some  again  plead  for  making  free  with  truth,  that 
they  do  U  only  in  jest.  But  these  jests  of  theirs 
often  occasion  great  uneasiness  and  disquiet;  and 
sometimes  other  very  seiious  bad  consequences.  The 
Scripture  therefore  hath  passed  a  severe  censure 
upon  them.  '  As  a  madman,  who  casteth  fire  brands, 
arrows,  and  deatli;  so  is  the  man  that  deceiveth  his 
neighbour,  and  saith,  am  1  not  in  S])ort?'"  To  give 
another  person  vexation,  or  make  him  appear  con- 
temptible, though  in  a  slight  instance,  is  by  no  means 
innocent  sport.  And  besides,  to  speak  falsehood  on 
any  occasion  is  a  dangerous  introduction  to  speaking 
it  on  more,  if  not  all,  occasions.  For  if  so  trifling  a 
motive,  as  a  jest  will  prevail  on  us  to  violate  truth, 
iiow  can  we  be  expected  to  withstand  more  weighty 
temptations? 

Plowever,  it  may  perhaps  at  the  least  be  thought, 
that  lying  to  prevent  mischief  and  do  good,  must  be 
permitted.  But  the  Scripture  expressly  forbids  us  to 
'  do  evil  that  good  may  come.''^  And  they,  who 
allow  themselves  in  it,  will  usually  be  discovered  and 
lose  their  end:  or,  if  not,  will  never  know  where  to 
stop.  They  will  be  enticed  by  degrees  to  think  every 
thing  good,  that  serves  their  turn,  let  others  think  it 
ever  so  bad:  those  others  again  will  think  themselves 
authorized  by  such  examples  to  take  the  same  liber* 

a  Prov.  xxvi.  18,  19.  "  Rom.  iii.  8- 

W  2 


•24-2 


l^ECfURE    XXVII. 


lies:  and  thus  all  trust  and  probity  will  be  lost  among 
men:  a  much  greater  evil,  than  any  good,  which 
talsehood  may  do  now  and  then,  will  ever  compen- 
sate. 

And  if  telling  lies,  even  from  these  plausible  in- 
ducements, be  so  bad;  what  must  it  be,  when  they 
proceed  from  less  excusable  ones,  as  desire  of  pro- 
moting our  own  interest,  or  that  of  our  party:  and 
how  completely  detestable,  when  we  are  prompted 
to  them  by  malice,  or  undue  resentment,  or  any  other 
totally  W'icked  principle! 

Nor  is  the  practice  less  imprudent,  than  it  is  un- 
lawful. Some  indeed  lie  to  raise  their  characters, 
as  others  do  to  gain  their  points.  But  both  act  very 
absurdly.  For  they  miss  of  their  purpose  entirely, 
as  soon  as  they  are  found  out:  and  all  liars  are  found 
out,  immediately,  for  the  most  part;  but  in  a  while, 
without  fail.  And  after  that,  every  body  despises  and 
hates  them:  even  when  they  speak  truth,  nobody 
knows  how  to  credit  them:  and  so,  by  ain^.ing  wick- 
edly at  some  little  advantage  for  the  present,  they 
put  themselves  foolishly  under  the  greatest  disadvan- 
tage in  the  world  ever  after.  '  The  lip  of  truth  should 
!)e  established  for  ever:  but.  a  lying  tongue  is  but  for 
a  moment.*'''  Beware  then  of  the  least  beginning  of 
a  practice  tliat  will  be  sure  to  end  ill.  For  if  you 
venture  upon  falsehood  at  all,  it  will  grow  upon  you, 
and  entangle  you;  and  bring  you  to  shame,  to  pun- 
ishment, to  ruin.  And,  besides  what  you  will  sutfer 
by  it  here,  your  portion,  unless  you  repent  very 
deeply,  and  amend  veiy  thoroughly,  will  be  with  the 
father  of  lies  hereafter.  For  into  the  heavenly  'Je- 
rusalem shall  in  no  wise  enter  whosoever  worketh 
abomination,  or  maketh  a  lie.'*  Lying  lips  are 
abomination  to  the  Lord:  but  they  that  deal  truly  are 
his  delight.'^ 

There  is  yet  another  sort  of  falsehood,  often  full  as 
bad  as  affirming  w^hat  we  do  not  think:  I  mean,  pro- 


a  Piov.xii.  19,  2* 


b  Rcv.xxi.  27. 


c  Prov.  xii.  22, 


LECTURE  XXVllI.  -J  43 

A,, 

niising  what  we  do  not  intend:  or  what  we  neglect 
al'terwards  to  perl'orm,  so  soon,  or  so  fully,  as  we 
ought.  Whoever  hath  promised,  hath  made  himself 
a  debtor:  and,  unless  he  be  punctual  in  his  payment, 
commits  an  injustice;  whicli  in  many  cases  may  be  of 
very  pernicious  consequence. 

Now  in  order  to  secure  this  great  point  of  speak- 
ing truth;  besides  considering  carefully  and  frequent- 
ly the  before-mentioned  evils  of  departing  from  it, 
we  should  be  attentivealso  to  moderate  the  quantity 
of  our  discourse,  lest  we  fall  into  falsehood  unawares. 
For  '  in  the  multitude  of  words  there  wanteth  not 
sin:  but  he  that  refraineth  his  lips  is  wise.'"  Persons, 
who  sutler  themselves  to  run  on  heedlessly  in  talk, 
just  as  their  present  humour  disposes  them,  or  the 
present  company  will  be  best  pleased;  or  who  will 
say  almost  an>'  thing,  rather  than  say  nothing:  must 
l)e  perpetually  transgressing  some  of  the  duties  com- 
prehended under  this  commandment;  which  yet  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  not  to  transgress.  For,  with 
respect  to  the  concerns  of  tiiis  world,  '  he  that  loveth 
life,  and  would  see  good  da\s,  let  him  refrain  his 
tongue  from  evil;  and  his  lips  that  they  speak  no 
guile.'*  And,  as  to  our  eternal  state,  in  the  next, 
'  If  any  man  seem  to  be  religious,  and  bridleth  not 
his  tongue,  tiiat  man's  religion  is  vain.' ' 


LECTURE  XXVIIL 

THE    TENTH    COMMANDMENT. 

We  are  now  come  to  the  tenth  and  last  command- 
ment; which  is  by  the  Church  of  Rome  absurdly  divi- 
ded   into  two,  to  keep  up  the  number  after  joining 

a  Prov  X.  19.  b  Psalm  sxxiv.  l:;^,  13  «  James  i.  2b 


'24.4  LECTURE    XXMII. 

the  lirst  and  second-  into  one,  contrary  to  ancient 
authority,  Jewish  and  christian.  How  the  mistake 
was  originally  made,  is  hard  to  say:  but  undoubtedly 
they  retain  and  defend  it  the  more  earnestly,  in  order 
to  pass  over  the  second  commandment,  as  only  part 
of  the  first,  without  a  distinct  meaning  of  its  own. 
And  accordingly  many  of  their  devotional  books 
omit  it  entirely.  But  that  these  two  ought  not  to 
be  thus  joined  and  confounded,  I  have  shewn  you 
already.  And  that  this,  now  before  us  ought  not  to 
be  divided,  is  extremely  evident:  for  it  is  one  single 
prohibition  of  all  unjust  desires.  And  if  reckoning 
up  the  several  prohibited  objects  of  desire  makes  it 
more  than  one  commandment;  for  the  same  reason  it 
will  be  more  than  two.  For  there  are  six  things  for- 
bidden in  general.  And  moreover,  if  this  be  two 
commandments,  which  is  the  tirj^t  of  them?  For  in 
Exodus  it  begins,  '  tliou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neigh- 
bour's house:'  but  in  Deuteronomy,  'thou  shalt  not 
covet  thy  neighboui''s  wife.'  And  accordingly  some 
of  their  books  of  devotion  make  the  former,  some 
the  latter  of  these,  the  ninth."  Surely  the  order  of 
the  words  would  never  have  been  changed  thus  in 
Scripture,  had  there  been  two  commandments  iii 
them:^  but  being  one,  it  is  no  way  material,  which 
j)art  is  named  first.  I  say  no  more  therefore  on  so 
clear  a  {)oint:  but  pi'oceed  to  explain  this  precept,  of 
'not  coveting  what  is  our  neighbour's. 

The  good  things  of  this  life  being  the  gifts  of  God 

«  Their  Manual  of  Prayers  in  Englis!),  1725,  puts  'thou  shalt  not  covet  thy 
neighbour's  wife,'  for  tlie  ninth.  But  in  the  office  of  the  virgin  loth  Latin 
nnti  English,  called  tlie  Primer,  1717,  'thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighhour's 
louse,'  is  the  ninth. 

h  Indeed  the  Vatican  copy  of  the  Septuajint,  in  Exodus,  places  'thou  shall 
!iJt  coniniit  adultery,'  hel'ore  'thou  slialt  do  no  murder.'  And  so  do  Mark  .x. 
19.  Luke  xviii.  211.  Koin.  xiii.  9.  .-^nd  Pliilo,  and  part  of  the  Fathers.  But 
the  Hebrew  and  Samaritan,  and  all  translations  excepting  the  Septuagint,  and 
even  that  in  Deuteronomy,  and  I  believe  most  copies  of  it  in  Exodus,  an<i 
iMattii.  xix.  18,  and  Josephus,  and  another  part  of  the  fathers,  keep  the  now 
common  order  And  the  Evangelists  did  not  intend  to  observe  tlie  original 
order;  for  they  put 'honour  thy  Father,  i^-c'  last.  And  St.  Paul  doth  not  say, 
that  he  intended  to  observe  it.  'I'his  therefore  is  not  a  parallel  case  to  thatcf 
the  tenth  Comuiandmcnti 


LECTURE    XXVIII.  ^  •>  If) 

for  which  all  arc  to  be  thankful  to  him;  dc-iiinu-.  with 
due  modLration  and  suhinisjion,  a  coinfortahlc  i-harc 
of  thorn,  is  very  natural  and  riglit.  ^Vis•hing,  tliat 
our  share  were  l)etter,  is,  in  the  case  of  many  pcrsonp 
so  far  from  u  sin,  that  endcavourinij;  diliiicntly  to 
malce  it  better  is  part  of  their  duty.  Wishing  it  were 
equal  to  thai  of  such  another,  is  not  wishing  ill  to 
him,  but  only  well  to  ourselves.  And  seeking  to  ob- 
tain what  belongs  to  another,  may  in  proper  circum- 
stances, be  perfectly  innoc(MU.  AV^c  may  really  hav'^ 
occasion  lor  it;  he  may  be  well  able  to  bcslow  it;  or 
he  may  have  occasion  for  something  of  ours  in  return. 
And  on  these  mutual  wants  of  men  all  ronimerceand 
trade  is  founded:  which  God,  without  question,  de- 
signed should  be  carried  on;  because  he  hath  made 
all  countries  abound  in  some  things,  and  left  them 
deficient  in  others. 

Not  every  sort  of  desires  th.erefore,  but  unfit  and 
immoderate  desires  onl}',  are  forbidden  i>y  the  words, 
'  thou  shalt  not  covet.'  And  these  are  such  as  follow. 
First,  if  our  neighbour  camiot  lawfully  part  with  his 
properly,  nor  we  lawfully  receive  it;  and  yet  we 
want  to  have  it.  One  instance  of  fliis  kind  is  ex- 
jiressed,  'thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour's  wife.' 
iVnother  is,  if  we  want  a  person  who  possesses  any 
thing  in  trust,  or  under  certain  limitations,  to  give  or 
sell  it  in  breach  of  that  trust  or  those  limitations.  l)r 
if  he  can  part  with  it,  but  is  not  willing;  and  we  en- 
tertain thoughts  of  acquiring  it  by  force  and  fraud, 
or  of  being  revenged  on  him  for  his  refusal;  this  is 
also  highly  blamable:  for  wh}-  should  he  not  be  left 
quietly  free  master  of  his  own?  Indeed  barely  press- 
ing and  importuning  persons,  contrary  to  their  inter- 
est, or  even  their  inclination  only,  is  in  some  degree 
wrong:  for  it  is  one  way  of  extorting  Ihings  from 
them;  or  however  of  giving  them  trouble,  where  we 
have  no  right  to  give  il. 

But  though  we  keep  our  desires  ever  so  much  to  our- 
selves, they    may  notwithstanding    be   very    sinful. 


'M6 


LECTURE    XXVXII. 


And  such  ihey  are  particularly,  if  they  induce  us  to 
envy  others:  tiiat  is,  to  be  uneasy  at  their  imagined 
supeiior  Jiappiness,  to  wish  them  ill,  or  take  pleasure 
in  any  harm  which  befiills  them.  For  this  turn  of 
mind  will  prompt  us  to  do  them  ill,  if  we  can:  as  in- 
deed a  great  part  of  the  mischief  that  is  done  in  the 
world,  and  some  of  the  worst  of  it,  arises  from  hence. 
'  Wi-ath  is  cruel,  and  anger  is  outrageous:  but  who  is 
able  (o  stand  against  envy?'<^  Accoj-dingly  we  find 
it  joined  in  the  New  Testament,  with  '  strife,  railing, 
variance,  sedition,  murder,  confusion,  and  every  evil 
work.''''  But  were  it  to  produce  no  miscliief  (o  our 
neighbour,  yet  it  is  the  directly  opposite  disposition  to 
that  love  of  him,  which  is  the  second  great  precept 
of  Christ's  religion.  Nay,  indeed  it  deserves,  in  some 
respects,  to  be  reckoned  the  worst  of  ill-natured  sins. 
The  revengeful  man  pleads  for  himself  some  injury 
attenipted  against  him:  but  the  envious  person  bears 
unprovoked  malice  to  those,  who  have  done  him 
neither  wrong  nor  harm,  solely  because  he  fancies 
them  to  be,  in  this  or  that  instance,  very  happy. 
And  why  should  they  not,  if  they  can;  as  he  certain- 
ly would,  if  he  could?  For  the  prosperity  of  bad 
people,  it  must  be  confessed,  we  have  reason  to  be  so 
far  sorry,  as  they  are  likely  to  do  hurt  by  it.  But  to 
dosirc  tiieir  fall,  rather  than  their  amcjulment;  to 
desire  what  may  be  grivous  to  any  persons,  not  from 
good  will  to  mankind,  but  from  ill  will  (o  them;  to 
wish  any  misfortune  even  to  our  competitors  and  ri- 
vals, merely  because  they  are  such;  or,  because  they 
have  succeeded,  and  enjoy  what  we  aimed  at;  is  ex- 
tremely uncharitable  and  inhuman.  It  is  a  temper 
that  v.ill  give  us  perpetual  disquiet  in  this  woild,  (for 
there  will  always  be  somebody  to  envy,)  and  bring  a 
heavy  sentence  upon  us  in  the  r;ext,  unless  we  re- 
pent of  it,  and  subdue  it  first. 

But   though  our  selhsh  desires  were  to  raise  in  us 
no  malignity  against  our  fellow-creatures;  yet  if  they 

fl  Prov.  xxvii.  4.  i  Rom.  i.  29.     -xiii.  13.     1  Cor.  iii.  ;>. 

2  Cor.  .\ii.  20.     Gal.  v.  20,21.     1  Tim.  vi.  4.     James  iii.  14,  16. 


LECTURE  xxviir.        ^  '2lT 

tempt  us  to  murmur  against  our  creator;  and  cither 
to  speak  or  think  ill  oi'  that  distribution  of  things, 
which  liis  Provitlcnce  hath  made;  thisisgreat  impie- 
ty, and  rebclHon  of  the  heart  against  God:  who  iiath 
an  absolute  right  to  dispose  of  the  works  of  his  hands 
as  he  pleases;  and  uses  it  always  both  with  justice 
and  with  goodness  to  us.  Were  we  innocent,  we 
could  none  of  us  demand  more  advantages  of  any 
sort,  than  he  thought  fit  to  give  us:  but  as  we  are 
guilty  wretches;  far  from  having  a  claim  to  this  or 
or  that  degree  of  iiappiness,  we  are  every  one  liable 
to  severe  punishment.  And  therefore,  with  the  ma- 
ny comforts  and  blessings  which  we  have  now,  and 
the  eternal  felicity,  which,  through  the  mercy  of  our 
heavenly  father,  the  merits  of  our  blessed  redeemer, 
and  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  may,  if  we  will, 
have  hereafter,  surely  we  have  no  grotmd  to  complain 
of  our  condition.  For  what  if  things  be  unequally 
divided  here?  we  may  be  certain  tlic  disposer  of 
them  hath  wise  reasons  for  it,  whether  we  can  see 
them  or  not:  and  may  be  as  certain,  that,  unless  it 
he  our  own  fault,  we  shall  be  no  losers  by  it:  for  '  all 
things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love 
God.'"  Therefore,  how  little  soever  we  enjoy,  we 
have  cause  to  be  thankful  for  it:  and  how  much  soev- 
er we  sulFer,  we  have  cause  to  be  resigned;  nay, 
thankful  too  even  for  that:  as  we  maybe  the  happier 
in  this  world  for  many  of  our  suircrings;  and  shall,  if 
we  bear  them  as  we  ought,  be  improved  in  goodness 
by  them  all,  and  made  happier  to  eternity. 

But  further  yet:  though  we  may  not  be  conscious 
of  what  we  shall  study  to  hide  from  ourselves,  that 
our  desires  carry  us  either  to  behave  or  wish  ill  to  our 
neighbours;  or  to  repine  against  God;  still,  if  they 
disturb  and  agitate  our  minds:  if  we  are  eager  and 
vehement  about  the  objects  of  them:  we  are  not  ar- 
rived at  the  state,  in  which  we  should  be  found. 
Some   feeling  of  this  inward  tumult,  especially  on 

a  Rom.  viii.  28. 


•248  i,iiv.ruiiE  XXVIII. 

trying  occasions,  may  be  unavoidable  by  fallen  man; 
and  more  ol'  it  natural  to  one  person  than  another: 
but,  after  all,  it  is  voluntary  indulgence,  that  gives 
oar  appetites,  and  passions,  and  fancies,  the  far 
greatest  share  of  their  dominion.  We  inflame  them, 
when  else  they  would  be  moderate:  we  aiTect  things, 
for  which  we  have  really  no  liking,  merely  because 
they  are  fashionable:  we  create  imaginary  wants  to 
ourselves;  and  then  grow  as  earnest  for  what  we 
tnight  do  perfectly  well  without,  as  if  the  whole  of 
our  felicity  consisted  in  it.  Tliis  is  a  very  immoral 
:^tate  of  mind:  and  hurries  persons,  almost  irresista- 
bly,  into  as  immoral  a  course  of  life.  In  proportion 
as  wforldly  inclinations  of  any  kind  engage  the  heart, 
they  exclude  from  it  social  affection,  compassion, 
generosity,  integrity;  and  yet  more  eirectualiy  love 
to  God  and  attention  to  the  concerns  of  our  future 
state.  Nor  do  they  almost  ever  fail  to  make  us  at 
present  miserable,  as  well  as  wicked.  They  prey 
upon  our  spirits,  torment  us  with  perpetual  self-dis- 
like, waste  our  health,  sink  our  character,  drive  us 
into  a  thousand  foolish  actions  to  gratify  them;  and 
when  all  is  done,  can  never  be  gratified,  so  as  to  give 
us  any  lasting  satisfaction.  First,  we  shall  be  full 
of  anxieties  and  f(;ars;  when  we  have  got  over  these 
and  obtained  our  wish,  we  shall  quickly  find  it  comes 
very  short  of  our  expectation:  then  we  shall  be  cloy- 
ed, and  tired,  and  wretchedly  languid,  till  some  new 
craving  sets  us  on  work  to  as  little  purpose  as  the 
former  did;  or  till  we  are  wise  enough  to  see,  that 
such  pursuits  are  not  the  way  to  happiness. 

But  supposing  persons  are  not  violent  in  pursuing 
the  imagined  good  things  of  this  world;  yet  if  they 
be  dejected  and  grieved,  that  no  more  of  them  have 
fallen  to  their  lot;  if  they  mourn  over  the  inferiority 
of  their  condition,  and  live  in  a  perpetual  feeling  of 
affliction  (be  it  ever  so  calm)  on  that  account;  or  in- 
deed on  account  of  any  cross  or  disadvantage  what- 
ever,belonging  to  the  present  life :  this  also  is  a  degree, 
though  the  lowest  and  least,  yet  still  a  degree,  of  in- 


LECTURE  XXVIII.  2-49 

ordinate  desire.  For  wc  arc  not  grateful,  if,  instead 
of  laking  our  portion  of  liajipincss  here  with  cheerful- 
ness, and  due  acknowledgments  for  it,  we  onlv  la- 
ment, that  it  is  not,  in  this  or  that  respect,  more  con- 
siderable; and  we  are  not  wise,  if  we  eml)itler  it,  be 
it  ever  so  small,  by  a  fruitless  sorrow,  instead  of  mak- 
ing the  best  of  it. 

These  then  being  the  excesses,  which  this  Com- 
mandment forbids;  the  duty  which  of  course  it  re- 
quires, is,  that  we  learn,  like  St.  Paul,  'in  whatsoever 
state  wc  are,  therewith  to  be  eanlcnt.'"  This  virtue 
every  body  practices  in  some  cases:  for  who  is  there 
that  could  not  mention  several  things  which  he  should 
be  glad  to  have,  yet  is  perfectly  well  satisfied  to  gp 
without  llicm?  And  would  we  but  strive  to  be  of  the 
same  disposition  in  all  cases,  the  self-enjoyment,  that 
we  should  reap  from  it,  is  inexpressible.  The  world- 
ly condition  of  multitudes  is  really  quite  as  good  as  it 
needs  to  be;  and  of  many  others,  (who  do  not  think 
so,)  as  good  as  it  well  can  be.  Now  for  such  to  be 
anxious  about  mending  it,  is  only  being  miserable  for 
nothing.  And  in  whatever  we  may  have  cause  to 
wisli  our  circumstances  were  better,  moderate  wishes 
will  be  sufticient  to  excite  a  reasonable  industry  to 
improve  them,  as  far  as  we  can;  and  immoderate  ea- 
gerness will  give  us  no  assistance,  but  only  disquiet. 
More  than  a  few  consume  themselves  with  longing 
for  what  indolence  and  despondency  will  not  sulFer 
them  to  (ry  if  they  can  obtain.  'The  desire  of  the 
slothful  killeth  him:  lor  his  hands  refuse  to  labor.'  * 
And  sometimes,  on  the  contrary,  the  precipitance 
with  which  we  aim  at  a  favorite  point,  is  the  very 
reason  that  we  overshoot  the  mark  and  miss  it. 

But  supposing  the  most  solicitous  were  always -the 
most  likely  to  gain  their  ends:  yet  this  likelihood  will 
be  often  crossed,  both  by  delays  and  disappointments; 
which  to  impatient  tempers  will  be  extremely  griev- 
ous: and  the   saddest  disappointment  of  all  will  be, 

m  Pliil.  iv.  11.  *  TroT,  xii.  25 


250  LECTURE    xxvin. 

that  they  will  find  the  most  perfect  accomplishment 
of  their  wishes,  after  a  very  smalltime,  to  be  little  or 
no  increase  of  their  happiness.  Persons  uneasy  in 
their  present  situation,  or  intent  on  some  darling  ob- 
iect,  imagine  that  could  liiey  but  succeed  in  such  a 
pursuit,  or  had  they  hut  such  a  person's  good  fortune 
or  accomplishments,  then  they  should  be  perfectly  at 
ease,  and  lastingly  delighted.  But  they  utterly  mis- 
take. Every  enjoyment  palls  and  deadens  quickly: 
every  condition  hath  its  unseen  inconveniences  and 
sufferings,  a?  well  as  its  visible  advantages.  And 
happiness  depends  scarce  at  all  on  the  pre  eminence 
commonly  admired.  For  the  noble,  the  powerful,  the 
rich,  the  learned,  the  ingenious,  the  beautiful,  the  gay, 
the  voluptuous,  are  usually  to  the  full  as  far  from  it, 
and  by  turns  own  they  arc,  as  any  of  the  wretches, 
whom  they  severally  despise.  Indeed,  when  every 
thing  is  tried  round,  we  shall  experience  at  last,  what 
"we  had  much  better  see  at  first,  as  we  easily  may, 
that  the  cheerful  composure  of  a  reasonable  and  re- 
ligious, and  therefore  contented  mind,  is  the  only  so- 
lid I'elicity  that  this  v/orld  affords;  the  great  blessing 
of  Heaven  here  below:  that  will  enable  us  to  relish 
the  rest,  if  we  have  tliem:  and  to  be  satisfied,  if  we 
have  them  not.  What  Solomon  hath  said  of  wealth, 
he  found  to  be  equally  true  of  every  thing  else  be- 
neath the  sun.  '  God  giveth  to  a  man  that  is  good  in 
his  sight,  wisdom  and  knowledge,  and  joy:  but  to  the 
sinner  he  giveth  travel,  to  gather  and  heap  up — this 
also  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit,'" 

Contentment  therefore  being  the  gift  of  God,  we 
should  earnestly  pray  to  him  for  it.  And  in  order  to 
become  objects  of  his  favor,  we  should  frequently  and 
thankfully  recollect  the  many  undeserved  comforts  of 
our  condition,  that  we  may  bear  the  afflictions  of  it 
more  patiently;  reasoning  with  Job,'  shall  we  receive 
good  at  the  hands  of  God,  and  shall  we  not  receive 
evil.'  *  Nor  should  we  fail  to  join  with  our  meditations 

■    Eccl.  il.  26.  b  Job  ii.  10. 


'  LECTURE  xxviir.  251 

on  his  past  and  present  mercies,  the  firm  assurance, 
whicli  both  his  attributes  and  his  promises  furnish, 
that  the  same  '  loving  kindne;s  should  follow  us  all 
the  days  of  our  life;'  "  and  be  exerted,  though  some- 
times for  our  correction  or  trial,  yet  always  for  our 
benefit;  and  so  as  to  make  our  lot  supportable,  in  ev- 
ery variety  of  our  outward  circumstances  '  Let  your 
conversation,  therefore,  I)C  without  covetousncss;  and 
be  content  with  such  things  as  ye  have:  for  he  hath 
said,  I  will  never  leave  thee,  nor  forsake  thee.'  * 
Another  very  important  consideration,  and  necessary 
to  be  often  brought  to  mind,  is,  that  the  season  both 
of  enjoying  the  advantages,  and  bearing  the  incon- 
veniencies  of  life  is  short:  but  the  reward  of  enjoying 
and  bearing  each,  as  we  ought,  is  eternal  and  incon- 
ceivably great. 

Together  with  these  reflections,  let  us  exercise  a 
steady  care  to  check  every  faulty  inclination  in  its 
earliest  rise.  For  it  is  chiefly  indulging  them  at  first, 
that  makes  them  so  hard  to  conquer  afterwards. 
And  yet  we  shall  always  find  the  bad  consequences 
of  yielding  to  outweigh  vastly  the  trouble  of  resist- 
ing: and  that  to  bring  our  desires,  when  they  arc 
the  strongest,  down  to  our  condition,  is  a  much  easier 
work,  than  to  raise  our  condi^tion  to  our  desires, 
which  will  only  grow  the  more  ungovernable,  the 
more  they  are  pampered.  Further:  whatever  share 
we  possess  of  worldly  plenty,  let  us  bestow  it  on  our- 
selves with  decent  moderation,  and  impart  of  it  to 
others  with  prudent  liberality:  for  thus  'knowing 
how  to  abound,  we  shall  know  the  better  how  to  saf- 
fer  need,'<^  if  Providence  call  us  to  it.  And  lastly, 
instead  of  '  setting  our  aflcctions  on  any  things  on 
earth,'''  which  would  be  a  fatal  neglect  of  the  great 
end  that  we  are  made  for,  let  us  exalt  our  views  to 
that  blessed  place,  where  'godliness  with  content- 
ment will  be  unspeakable  gain:"'  and  they  who  have 
restrained  the  inferior  principles  of  their  nature  by 

a  rsalm  xiiii.  6.  *  Heb.  xiii.  5.  «  Phil.  iv.  12 

d  Col.  iii.  2-  •  1  Tim.  vi.  6. 


252  LECTURE    XXIX. 

the  rules  of  religion,  shall  have  the  highest  faculties 
of  their  souls  '  abundantly  satisfied  witli  the  fatness 
of  God's  house,  and  be  made  to  drink  of  the  river  of 
of  his  pleasures.'" 

Thus  then  you  see,  both  the  nncaning,  and  the  im- 
portance of  this  last  command:  vvhicli  is  indeed  the 
guard  and  security  of  all  the  preceding  ones.  For 
our  actions  will  never  be  right  habitually,  till  our 
desires  are  so.  Or  if  they  couid:  our  maker  demands 
the  whole  man,  as  he  surely  well  may:  nor,  till  that 
is  devoted  to  Him,  are  we  'meet  for  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints  in  light.'* 

And  now,  both  the  first  and  the  second  table  of 
the  ten  commandments  having  been  explained  toj-ou, 
it  only  remains,  that  we  beg  of  God  'sufticient 
grace' "=  to  keep  them:  earnestly  intreating  him  in  the 
words  of  his  Church:  '  Lord  have  mercy  upon  us,  and 
write  all  these  thy  laws  in  our  hearts,  we  beseech 
thee.' 


LECTURE    XXIX. 

Of  man's  inability,  GocTs  grace,  and  prayer  to  him 
for  it. 

1  have  now  proceeded,  in  the  course  of  these  Lec- 
tures, to  the  end  of  the  Commandments;  and  explain- 
ed the  nature  of  that  repentance,  faith,  and  obedi- 
ence, which  were  promised  for  us  in  our  baptism,  and 
which  we  are  bound  to  exercise,  in  proportion  as  we 
come  to  understand  tlie  obligations  incumbent  on  us. 
You  cannot  but  see  by  this  time,  that  the  duties, 
which  God  enjoins  us,  are  not  only  very  important, 
but  very  extensive.  And  therefore  a  consideration 
will  almost  unavoidably  present  itself  to  your  minds 
in  the  next  place,  what  abilities  we  have  to  perform 
them.     Now  this   question  our  Catechism   decides^ 

a  Psalm  xxxvi  8.  4  Col.  i.  12.  c  2  Cor.  xii,  9. 


LECTURE    XXIX.  253 

without  asking  it,  by  a  declaration,  extremely  dis- 
couraging in  appearance;  that  '  we  are  not  able,  of 
ourselves,  to  walk  in  the  Commiindmcntsof  God,and 
to  serve  him.' 

Indeed,  had  we  ever  so  great  abilities,  we  must 
have  llicm  not  ourselves,  but  of  our  Maker:  from 
whom  ail  tlie  powers  of  all  creatures  arc  derived.  But 
something  furlher  than  lliis,  is  plainly  meant  here: 
that  there  are  no  powers,  belonging  to  human  nature, 
in  its  present  state,  sufficient  for  so  great  a  purpose. 
*  The  law  of  God  is  spiritual:  but  we  arc  carnal,  sold 
under  sin.'"  And  that  such  is  our  condition,  will  ap- 
pear by  reflecting,  (irst,  wliat  it  was  at  our  birth; 
secondly,  wiiat  we  have  made  it  since. 

1.  As  to  the  first,  we  all  give  proofs,  greater  or  less, 
of  an  ini)red  disorder  and  wr.ongness  in  our  under- 
standings, will  and  afFections.  Possibly  one  proof, 
that  some  may  give  of  it,  may  be  a  backwardness  to 
own  it.  But  tliey  little  consider,  how  severe  a  sen- 
tence they  would  pass,  by  denying  it,  on  themselves, 
and  all  mankind.  Even  with  our  natural  bad  inclin- 
ations for  some  excuse,  we  are  blamable  enough 
for  tbe  ill  things  that  we  do.  But  how  much  more 
should  we  be  so,  if  we  did  them  all,  without  the  soli- 
citation of  any  inward  depravity  to  plead  afterwards 
in  our  favor?  In  point  of  interest,  therefore,  as  well 
as  truth,  we  are  concerned  to  admit  an  original  prone- 
ness  to  evil  in  our  frame:  while  yet  reason  plainly 
teaches,  at  the  same  time,  that  whatever  God  created 
was  originally,  in  its  kind,  perfect  and  good. 

To  reconcile  these  two  things  would  have  been  a 
great  difficulty,  had  not  revelation  pointed  out  the 
way,  by  informing  us,  that  man  was  indeed  'made  up- 
right.' *  but  that  the  very  flrst  of  human  race  lost  their 
innocence  and  their  happiness  together;  and  tainting 
by  willful  transgression,  their  own  nature,  tainted  by 
consequence,  that  of  their  whole  posterity.  Thus, 'by 
one  man,  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  bj 

«  Kom.  Til.  14.  »  BcdM.  tU.  29. 

X2 


254  LECTURE    XXIX. 

sin;  and  so  death  passed  upon  all   men,  for  that   all 
have  sinned.'  "    We  find  in  fact,  however  difficult  it 
may  be  to  account  for  it  in  speculation,  that  the  dis- 
positions of  parents,  both  in   body   and  mind,  very 
commonly  descend,  in  some  degree,  to  their  children. 
And  therefore  it  is  entirely  credible,  that  so  great  a 
change  in  the  minds  of  our  first  parents  from  absolute 
Tightness  of  temper  to  presumptuous  wickedess:   ac- 
companied with  an  equal  change  of   body,  from  an 
immortal  condition  to  a  mortal  one,  produced   per- 
haps, in  part,  by  the  physical  eiFects  of  the  forbidden 
fruit;  that  these  things,  I  say,  should  derive  their  fa- 
tal influences  to  every  succeeding  generation.     For 
though  God  will  never  impute  any  thing  to  us,  as  our 
personal  fault,  which  is  not  our  doing,  yet  he   may 
very  justly  witiihold  from  us   those  privileges,  whicli 
he  granted  to  our  first  parents  only  on  condition  of 
their  fautless  obedience,  and  leave  us  subject  to  those 
inconveniences,  which  follovv^ed  of  course  from  their 
disobedience:  as,  in  multitudes  of  other  cases,  we  see 
children  in  far  v>'orse  circumstances,  by  the   faults  of 
their  distant  forefathers,  th;in   they   otherwise  would 
have  been.  And  most  evidently  it  is  no  more  a  hard- 
ship upon  us,  to  become  such  as  we  are  by  means  of 
Adam's  transgression,  than  to   suffer   what  we  often 
do  for  the  transgressions  of  our  other  ancestors;  or  to 
.  have  been  created  such  as  we  are,  without  any  one's 
transgression:   which  last,  all  who  disbelieve  original 
sin,  must  affirm  to  be  our  case. 

But  unhappy  for  us,  as  the  failure  of  the  first  man 
was,  we  should  be  happy  in  comparison,  if  this  were 
all  that  we  had  to  lament.  Great  as  the  native  dis- 
order of  our  frame  is;  yet  either  the  fall  of  Adam  left 
in  it,  or  God  rdstored  to  it,  some  degree  of  disposition 
to  obedience,  and  of  strength  against  sin:  so  that 
though  '  in  us,  that  is  in  our  flesh,  dwelleth  no  good 
thing;'*  yet 'after  the  inward  man,  (the  mind,)  we  de- 
light in  the  law  of  God;'*^  and  there  are  occasions, 

a  Rom,  V.  It.  »  Rom.  vii.  18.  e  Ver.  22  23i 


LECTURE    XX!X.  255 

on  which  even  'tlic  gentiles,  wliich  have  not  the  law, 
do  by  nature  the  things  contained  in  the  law,'*'  though 
neither  all,  nor  any,  without  fault.  And  on  us  Chris- 
tians our  heavenly  Father  confers  in  our  oaptism,  the 
assurance  of  much  greater  strength,  to  obey  his  com- 
mand?, than  they  have.     But  then,  if  we  consider, 

2.  What  we  have  made  our  condition  since,  wc 
shall  find,  that  instead  of  using  well  the  abilities 
which  we  had,  and  taking  the  methods  which  our 
Maker  hath  jippointcd  for  the  increase  of  them,  we 
have  often  carelessly,  and  too  often  willfully,  misem- 
ployed the  former,  and  neglected  the  latter.  Now  by 
every  instance  of  such  behaviour,  wc  displease  God, 
wealcen  our  right  alFections,  and  add  new  strength 
to  wrong  passions:  and  by  habits  of  such  behaviour, 
corrupting  our  hearts,  and  blinding  our  understand- 
ings, we  bring  ourselves  into  a  much  worse  condition 
than  that  in  which  wc  were  born:  and  tluis  become 
douI)ly  incapable  of  doing  our  duty.  Tiiis,  experi- 
ence proves  but  too  plainly,  though  Scripture  did 
not  teacli,  as  it  doth,  that  *  the  imagination  of 
man's  heart  is  evil  from  his  youth :"^  that  '  we  were 
shapen  in  iniquity,  and  in  sin  did  our  mother  con- 
ceive us:'*^  that  'the  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against 
God:"*^  that  'without  Christ  wc  can  do  nothing;'  ' 
'  and  that  we  are  not  sufficient  to  think  any  thing, 
as  of  ourselvcs.'-'^^ 

Yet,  notwithstanding  this,  wc  feel  within  us  an 
obligation  of  conscience  to  do  every  thing  that  is 
right  and  good.  For  that  obligation  is  in  its  nature 
unchangeable:  and  we  cannot  be  made  happy  other- 
wise than  by  endeavoring  to  fulUil  it;  though  God, 
for  the  sake  of  our  blessed  Redeemer,  will  make  fit 
allowances  for  our  coming  short  of  it.  But  then  we 
must  not  hope  for  sjch  allowances  as  would  really 
be  unfit.  Our  original  weakness  indeed,  is  not  our 
fault;  but  our  neglect  of  being  relieved  from  it,  and 
the  additions   that  we  have  made    to  it,  are.     And 

•  Horn.  ii.  14.  i  Gen.  viii.  21.  e  Ps.  li.  5. 

i  Bom.  vUi.  7.  t  John  XT.  5.  /  2  Cor.  ili.  i. 


25Q  LECTURE    XXIX. 

whatever  we  might  have  had  the  power  of  doing,  if 
we  would;  it  is  no  injustice  to  punish  us  for  not  do- 
ing: especially  when  the  means  of  enabling  ourselves 
continue  to  be  offered  to  us  through  our  lives.  Now, 
in  fact,  the  whole  race  of  mankind,  I  charitably  hope 
and  belive,  have,  by  the  general  grace,  or  favour  of 
God,  the  means  of  doing  so  much,  at  least,  as  may 
exempt  them  from  future  sufferings.  But  Christians, 
by  the  special  grace  mentioned  in  this  part  of  the 
Catechism,  are  qualified  to  do  so  much  more,  as  will 
entitle  them,  not  for  their  own  worthiness,  but  that 
of  the  holy  Jesus,  to  a  distinguishing  sha,re  of  future 
reward. 

Now  the  special  grace  of  the  Gospel  consists, 
partly  in  the  outward  revelation,  which  it  makes  to 
us,  of  divine  truths;  partly  in  the  inward  assistance, 
which  it  bestows  on  us  for  obeying  the  divine  will. 
The  latter  is  the  point  here  to  be  considered. 

That  God  is  able,  by  secret  influences  on  our 
minds,  to  dispose  us  powerfully  in  favour  of  what  is 
right,  there  can  be  no  doubt:  for  we  are  able,  in 
some  degree,  to  influence  one  another  thus.  That 
there  is  need  of  his  doing  it,  we  have  ail  but  too 
much  experience;  and  that  therefore  we  may  rea- 
sonably hope  for  it,  evidently  follows.  He  interposes 
continually  by  his  providence,  to  carry  on  the  course 
of  nature  in  the  material  world;  is  it  not  then  very 
likely,  that  he  should  interpose  in  a  case,  which,  as 
far  as  we  can  judge,  is  yet  more  v/orthy  of  his  inter- 
position; and  incline  and  strengthen  his  poor  crea- 
tures to  become  good  and  happy,  by  gracious  impres- 
sions on  their  souls,  as  occasions  require?  But  still, 
hope  and  likelihood  arc  not  certainty:  and  God 
'whose  ways  are  past  finding  out,'*^  might  have  left 
all  men  to  their  own  strength,  or  rather  indeed  their 
own  weakness.  But  whatever  he  doth  in  relation  to 
others,  which  is  not  our  concern,  he  hath  clearlj' 
promised  to  us  Christians,  that  '  his  grace  shall  be 

«  Bom.  xi.  33. 


LECTURE  XXIX.  257 

suflicicnt  for  us:'"  his  Holy  Spirit  shall  enable  us  ef- 
feclually  to  do  every  thing  wliich  his  word  rctjuircs. 

\Vc  may  resist*  his  motions:  or  wc  may  receive 
them  into  our  souls,  and  act  in  consequence  of  them. 
Every  one  hath  power  enough  to  do  riglit:  Scripture 
as  well  as  reason,  shews  it:  only  we  have  it  not  resi- 
dent in  us  hy  nature;  but  bestowed  on  us  continually 
by  our  maker,  as  we  want  it.  In  all  good  actions 
that  we  perfoim,  'the  preparation  of  the  heart  is 
from  the  Loid."'^  And  that  faith,  wliich  is  the  foun- 
tain of  all  .actions  truly  good,  *is  not  of  oursclvcr,  it 
is  llic  gift  of  God.'''  But  "he  giveth  liberally  to  all'  ' 
who  ask  him:  and  therefore  no  one  hath  cause  of 
complaint. 

It  is  ti-ue,  we  arc  seldom  able  to  distinguish  this 
heavenly  inlluence  from  the  natural  workings  of  our 
own  minds:  as  indeed  we  are  often  intluenccd  one  by 
another  without  perceiving  it.  But  the  assurance, 
given  in  Scripture,  of  its  being  vouchsafed  to  us  is 
abundantly  sullicient:  to  which,  experience  also 
would  add  strong  confirmation,  did  we  but  attend 
with  due  seriousness  to  what  passes  within  our  breasts. 

Our  naturul  freedom  of  will  is  no  more  impaired  by 
these  secret  admonitions  of  our  Maker,  tiian  by  the 
open  persuasions  of  our  fellow  creatures.  And  the 
advantage  of  having  God's  help,  far  from  making  it 
unnecessary  to  help  ourselves,  obliges  us  to  it  pecu- 
liarly. We  arc  therefore  to  •  work  out  our  own  sal- 
vation,' because  '  lie  worketh  in  us  both  to  will  and 
to  do."^  For  it  is  a  great  aggravation  of  every  sin, 
that,  in  committing  it,  we  quench  the  pious  motions 
excited  by  '  the  spirit'^  of  God  in  our  hearts:  and  a 
great  incitement  to  our  endeavours  of  performing 
every  duty,  that  with  such  aid  we  may  be  sure  of 
success.  Our  own  natural  strength  cannot  increase, 
as  temptations  and  diHiculties  do:  but  tliat  which  wc 
receive    from  Heaven  can.     And  thus  it  is,  that  we 

a  2  Cor.  xii.  9.  4  Acts  vii.  51.  e  Prov.  xvi.  1. 

d  Eph.  ii.  8.  a  James  i.  5.  /  I*'"'-  ''•  I"-.  13- 

f  1  Tliesg  V.  19. 


258  liECTI/RE  XXIX. 

learn  courage  and  humility  at  once;  by  knowing  that 
*  we  can  do  all  things,'  but  only  '  through  Christ 
which  strengtheneth  us;'"  and  therefore  '  not  we,  but 
the  grace  of  God,  which  is  with  us.'* 

This  grace  therefore  being  of  such  importance  to 
us,  our  Catechism,  with  great  reason,  directs  us  '  at 
all  times  to  call  for  it  by  diligent  prayer.'  For 
our  heavenly  Father  hath  not  promised,  nor  can 
we  hope,  that  He  '  will  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them 
who'  proudly  disdain  or  negligently  omit,  to  'ask 
Him.''=  And  hence  it  becomes  pecuHarly  necessary, 
that  we  should  understand  how  to  pray  to  Him:  a 
duty  mentioned  in  the  former  part  of  the  Catechism, 
but  reserved  to  be  explained  more  fully  in  this. 

God  having  bestowed  on  us  the  knov/ledge  in  some 
measure,  of  what  He  is  in  Himself,  and  more  espe- 
cially of  what  he  is  to  us;  we  arc  doubtless  bound  to 
be  suitably  atF.;cted  by  it;  and  to  keep  alive  in  our 
minds,  with  the  utmost  care,  due  sentimenss  of  our 
continual  dependence  on  Him,  of  reverance  and  sub- 
mission to  his  will,  of  love  and  gratitude  for  his  good- 
ness, of  humility  and  sorrow  for  all  our  sins  against 
Him;  and  earnest  desire,  that  his  mercy  and  favour 
may  be  shewn  in  such  manner  as  He  shall  think  fi(, 
to  us  and  to  all  our  fellow  creatures. 

Now,  if  these  sentiments  ought  to  be  felt,  they 
ought  also  to  be  some  way  expressed:  not  only  that 
others  may  see  we  have  them,  and  be  excited  to  them 
by  our  example:  but  that  we  ourselves  may  receive 
both  the  comfort  and  the  improvement,  which  must 
naturally  flow  from  exercising  such  valuable  affec- 
tions, /tnd  unquestionably  the  most  lively  and  most 
respectful  manner  of  exercising  them  is,  that  we  di- 
rect them  to  Him  who  is  the  object  of  them;  and 
pour  out  our  hearts  before  Him  in  suitable  acts  of 
homage,  thanksgiving,  and  confession:  in  humble  pe- 
titions for  ourselves,  and  intercessions  for  all  man- 
kind.    Not  that  God  is  ignorant,  till  we  inform  Him, 

a  Phil  ir.  13.  b  1  Cor.  xv.  10.  c  Luke  x'l.  13. 


LECTURE    XXIX.  '250 

either  of  our  outward  circumstances,  or  the  inward 
temper  of  our  hearts.  If  Ho  were,  our  praters 
would  give  Him  but  very  imperfect  knowledge  of 
either:  for  wo  are  greatly  ignorant  of  both  oursolvcF. 
But  the  design  of  prayer  is,  to  bring  our  minds  into 
a  right  fiame;  and  so  make  ourselves  fit  for  those 
bles^ings,  for  which  wc  are  very  unfit,  while  we  are 
too  v>ain  or  too  careless  to  .'!sk  them  of  God. 

The  very  act  of  prayer  therefore  will  do  us  good, 
if  we  pray  with  attention,  else  it  is  nothing;  and  With 
sincerity,  else  it  is  worse  than  nothing;  and  the  con- 
sequences of  praying,  God  hath  promised,  shall  be 
further  good.  'All  things  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask 
in  prayer,  believing,  ye  shall  receive.""  Not  abso- 
lutely 'all  things  whotsoever'  we  desire:  for  some  of 
our  desires  may  be  on  several  accounts  unfit,  and 
some  would  prove  extremely  hurtful  to  us.  Therefore 
we  ought  fo  consider  well  wjiat  we  pray  for:  and 
especially  in  all  temporal  matters  refer  ourselves 
wholly  to  God's  good  pleasure.  Nor  doth  He  always 
grant  immediately  what  He  designs  to  grant,  and 
hath  given  us  the  fullest  light  to  ask:  but  delays  it 
perhaps  a  while  to  exercise  our  patience  and  trust  in 
Him:  for  which  reason  our  Saviour  directs  us  'al- 
ways to  pray  and  not  to  faint."*  But  whatever  is 
really  good,  He  will  undoubtedly,  as  soon  as  it  is 
really  necessary,  give  us  upon  our  request:  provided 
further,  that  with  our  earnest  petitions  we  join  our 
honest  endeavours:  for  prayer  was  never  designed  to 
serve  instead  of  diligence,  but  to  assist  it.  And  there 
fore,  if  in  our  temporal  adairs  we  are  idle  or  incon- 
siderate, we  must  not  expect  that  our  prayers  will 
bring  us  good  success;  and  if,  in  our  spiritual  ones, 
we  willfully  or  thoughtlessly  neglect  ouiselves:  wc 
must  not  imagine,  that  God  will  amend  us  against 
our  wills,  or  whilst  we  continue  supinely  indifferent. 
But  let  us  do  our  duty  to  the  best  of  our  power,  at 
the  same  time  that  we  pray  for  his  blessing;  and  wc 

«  Matt.  zxi.  22.  i  Luke  xviii.  1. 


260  LECTURE   XXIX. 

may  be  assured  that  notliing  but  an  injurious  disbe- 
lief can  prevent  our  obtaining  it;  on  which  account 
St.  James  requires,  that  we  'ask  in  faitli,  nothing 
wavering.'" 

Indeed,  without  the  encouragement  given  us  in 
Scripture,  it  miglit  well  be  wilhsome  diffidence,  and 
it  should  still  be  with  the  utmost  reverence,  that  '  we 
take  upon  us  to  speak  unto  the  Lord,  wlio  are  but 
dust  and  ashes.'*  The  heathens  therefore  addressed 
their  prayers  to  imaginary  deities  of  an  inferior 
rank,  as  judging  themselves  unworthy  to  approach 
the  supreme  One.  But  our  rule  is,  '  th,ou  shait  wor- 
ship the  Lord  thy  God,  and  Him  only  shalt  thou 
serve. '"^  The  aifected  humility  of  wors^hiping  even 
Angels,  and  therefore  much  more  Saints,  (wh.o,  if 
really  such,  are  yet  '  lower  than  Angels,'  '')  may,  as 
we  are  taught,  '  beguile  us  of  our  reward:'*  whereas 
we  may  '  come  boldly  to  the  throne  of  our  Maker's 
grace,' -^  though  not  in  our  own  right,  yet  through 
the  Mediator  whom  he  hath  appointed;  and  who 
hath  both  procured  us  the  privilege,  and  instructed 
us  how  to  use  it,  by  delivering  to  us  a  prajer  of  his 
own  composition;  which  might  be  at  once  a  form  for 
us  frequently  to  rcp(;at,  and  a  pattern  for  us  always 
to  imitate. 

That  the  Lord's  prayer  was  designed  as  a  form, 
appears  from  his  own  words:  'After  this  manner 
pray  ye;'  or,  translating  more  literally,  'Thus  pray 
yeyff  and  which  is  yet  more  express,  'When  ye  pray, 
say,  our  Father,"'  &c.  Besides,  it  was  given  by 
Him  to  his  disciples  on  their  request,  that  He  would 
'  teach  them  to  pray,  as  John  also  taught  his  disci- 
ples,'^ which,  undoubtedly  was,  as  the  great  Rabbis 
among  the  Jews  commonly  taught  theirs,  by  a  form. 
And  accordingly  this  prayer  has  been  considered  and 
used  as  such,  from  the  earliest  ages  of  Christianity 
down  to  the  present. 

a  Jam.  i.  6.  »  Gen.  xviii.  27.  •  Matth.  iv.  10. 

d  Psal.  viii.  5.  «  Col.  ii.  18.  /  Heb.  iv.  16. 

g  Matth.  vi.  9.  i  I..uk«  ii.  2.  »  Ver.  1, 


LECTURE  XXIX.  261 

Yet  our  Saviour's  design  was  not,  that  this  should 
be  the  only  prayer  of  christians:  as  it  appears  hoth 
from  the  precepts  and  the  practice  of  the  Apostles, 
as  well  as  from  the  nature  and  reason  of  the  thing. 
But  when  it  is  not  used  as  a  form,  it  is  however  of 
unspeakahlc  advantage  as  a  model.  He  proposes  it 
indeed  more  particularly  as  an  example  of  shortness. 
Not  that  we  ares  never  to  make  longer  prayers:  for 
He  himself '  continued  all  night  in  prayer  to  God:'  " 
and  we  have  a  much  longer,  made  by  the  Apostles, 
in  the  fourth  chapter  of  the  Acts.  But  his  intention 
was,  to  teach  by  this  instance,  that  wc  are  not  to  af- 
fect unmeaning  repetitions,  or  any  needless  mullipli- 
city  of  words,  as  if  we  'thought  that  we  should  be 
heard  for  our  much  speaking.'*  And  not  only  in  this 
respect,  but  every  other,  is  our  Lord's  prayer  an  ad- 
mirable institution  and  direction  for  praying  aright: 
as  will  abundantly  appear,  when  the  several  parts  of 
it  come  to  be  distinctly  explained.  But  though  such 
explanation  will  shew,  both  the  purport  and  the  ex- 
cellency of  it,  more  fully;  yet  they  are  to  every  eye 
visible  in  the  main,  without  any  explanation  at  all. 
And  therefore  let  us  conclude  at  present  with  de- 
voutly offering  it  up  to  God. 

'  Our  Father,  who  art  in  Heaven,  hallowed  be  thy 
name.  Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done  on 
earth,  as  it  is  in  Heaven.  Give  us  this  day  our  daily 
bread.  And  fof^ive  us  our  tresspasses,  as  we  forgive 
those  who  tresspass  against  us.  And  lead  us  not  into 
temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  evil.  For  thine  is 
the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  for  ever 
and  ever.     Amen. 

a  Luke  vi.  12.  b  Matlh.  vi.  7. 


263  LECTURE   XXX. 


LECTURE  XXX. 

THE    lord's    rRAYER. 

Our  Father,  zvho  art  in  Heaven,  hallozccd  be  thy  name. 

The  prayer,  which  our  blessed  Saviour,  taught  his 
disciples,  doth  not  need  to  be  explained,  as  being,  in 
itself,  and  originally,  obscure.  For  no  words  could 
be  more  intelligible  to  his  Apostles,  than  all  those, 
which  he  hath  used  throughout  it.  And  even  to  us 
now,  there  is  nolbingthat  deserves  the  name  of  diffi- 
cult: notwithstanding  the  distance  of  time,  the  change 
of  circumstance,  and  the  dilFerent  nature  and  ^turn 
of  tlie  Jewish  tongue  from  our  own.  But  still  in  or- 
der to  apprehend  it  sufficiently,  there  is  requisite  some 
knowledge  of  religion,  and  the  language  of  religion. 
Besides,  as  we  all  learnt  it  when  v/e  were  joung, 
whilst  we  had  but  little  understanding,  and  less  at- 
tention; it  is  not  impossible,  but  some  of  us  may  have 
gone  on  repeating  it  to  an  advanced  age,  without  con- 
sidering it  near  so  carefully  as  we  ought.  And  this 
very  thing,  that  the  words  are  so  familiar  to  us,  may 
have  been  the  main  occasion,  that\we  have  scarce 
ever  thought  of  their  import.  Now  we  are  sensible 
it  would  be  a  great  unhappiness  to  have  our  devotions 
as  the  Cliurch  of  Fiome  have  the  principal  part  of 
theirs,  in  a  language  that  we  could  not  understand. 
But  surely  it  is  as  great  a  fault,  if,  when  we  may  so 
easily  understand  them,  we  do  not;  or  if,  though  we 
do  understand  them,  when  we  think  of  the  matter, 
we  think  about  it  so  little,  that,  as  to  all  good  pur- 
poses, it  is  much  the  same  with  praying  in  an  unknown 
tongue.  The  Lord's  prayer,  in  itself,  is  very  clear, 
very  expressive,  very  comprehensive.  But  all  this  is 
nothing  to  us,  if  we  say  it  without  knowing,  or  with- 


LECTURE    XXX.  2G3 

out  minding,  what  wc  say.  For  how  excellent  words 
soever  we  use,  if  wc  add  no  meaning  to  them,  tUh 
can  be  no  praying.  And  therefore,  to  malce  it  really 
beneficial  to  us,  we  must  lix  deeply  in  our  thoughts, 
what  it  was  intended  by  its  author  to  contain. 

Now  it  consists,  you  may  observe,  of  three  parts. 
I.  An  invocation,  or  calling  upon  God.  II.  Petitions 
oftered.     III.  Praises  ascribed  to  Him. 

The  invocation  is  in  these  words,  'Our  Father  who 
art  in  Heaven.'  And,  few  as  they  are,  they  express 
very  fully  the  grounds  on  which  divine  worship 
stands. 

As  the  whole  world  derives  its  being  from  God,  He 
is  on  that  account  styled,  '  the  Father  of  all.'"  IJut 
as  rational  creatures  are  produced,  not  only  by  Him, 
but  in  his  image  and  likeness,  He  is  in  a  stricter 
sense  the  Father  of  these.  And  therefore  angels 
and  men  are  called  in  Scripture,  what  the  angels 
beneath  them  never  are,  the  'Sons,'*  and  the  'oflT- 
spring  of  God:"<=  in  which  sense  the  prophet  saith. 
'O  Lord,  thou  art  our  Father,  and  we  arc  all  the 
work  of  thy  hand.'''  Now  as  our  creator,  he  is  evi- 
dently not  only  our  Father,  but  also  our  sovereign 
Lord. 

A  second  title  God  hath  to  this  name,  from  that 
fathcply  providence  and  goodness,  which  he  exer- 
cises every  where  continually:  and  of  which  man- 
kind hath  large  experience;  not  only  in  the  many 
enjoyments,  comforts,  and  deliverances,  that  He 
grants  us,  but  even  in  the  afllictions  which  He  sends 
us,  always  for  our  benefit;  then  more  especially 
'  dealing  with  us  as  with  children  whom  He  loveth.'  • 

But  there  is  yet  a  third  reason,  why  we  call  Him 
'Our  Father,'  peculiar  to  us  as  christians;  and  founded 
on  our  being  united  by  faith  to  his  Son  'our  head,'  ^ 
and  'begotten  again,  through  his  Gospel,  to  a  lively 
hope,  to  an  inheritance  reserved  in  Heaven  for  us:'  ' 

a  Eph.  iv.  6.  *  Job  i.  6.  ii.  1.  xxxviii.  7.  c  Acts  xvii.  29. 

disa.  Ixiv.  8.  «  Hob.  xii.  5.  (fee.  /  1  Cor.  xi.  3. 

Bpli,  i.  22.  f  1  Cor.  iv.  15.     1  Pet.  i.  3.  4. 


264  LECTURE    XXX. 

Privileges  so  invaluable,  that  though  He  is  doubtless 
a  Father,  and  a  tender  one,  to  our  whole  species,  yet 
his  word  speaks  of  us,  as  the  only  persons,  in  compari- 
son, that  have  a  right  to  consider  him  in  this  view. 
'  As  many  as  received  him,'  that  is,  our  blessed  Sa- 
viour; '  to  them  gave  He  power  to  become  the  Sons 
of  God;  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name.'  " 
'  The  Lord  is  good  to  all:'*  but  singularly  good  to 
those,  who  become,  by  the  influences  of  the  christian 
covenant,  singularly  fit  objects  of  his  goodness.  They 
have  promises  of  the  greatest  blessings,  to  which  no- 
thing, but  promise,  can  entitle:  pardon  of  sin,  assist- 
ance of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  life  eternal;  by  which 
last  they  are  made,  in  the  happiest  sense,  the  '  Chil- 
dren of  God,  being  the  children  of  the  resurrec- 
tion.'*=  Let  us  learn  then,  as  often  as  we  say,  'Our 
Father,'  to  magnify  in  our  souls,  that  gracious  Re- 
deemer, who  hath  made  him  so  to  us,  more  than  he  is 
to  others.  Let  us  often  repeat  the  thankful  reflec- 
tion of  St.  John,  '  Behold  what  manner  of  love  the 
Father  hath  bestowed  on  us,  that  we  should  be  called 
the  Sons  of  God,'"^  and  joyfully  argue,  as  St.  Paul 
doth,  '  If  children,  then  heirs;  heirs  of  God,  and  joint 
heirs  with  Christ.'* 

Thus  then  the  words,  '  Our  Father,'  express  not 
only  the  absolute  authority,  but  the  unspeakable 
goodness  of  God:  and  the  next,  '  who  art  in  Heaven,' 
acknowledge  his  glory  and  power. 

I  have  already  observed  to  you,  in  explaining  the 
sixth  article  of  the  Creed,  that  as  God  cannot  but  be, 
so  he  cannot  but  be  every  where:  for  there  is  no- 
thing in  any  one  part  of  space  to  confine  his  presence 
to  that,  rather  than  to  any  other.  Besides,  his  pro- 
vidence is  continually  acting  e\ery  where:  and 
wherever  He  acts,  He  is.  Therefore  Solomon  justly 
declares,  '  The  Heaven  and  Heaven  of  Heiivens  can- 
not contain  thee.'-^  But  still  the  Scriptures  repre- 
sent Him  as  manifesting  the  more  visible  tokens  of 

a  John  i.  12.        b  Psalm  cxlv.  9.         e  Luke  sx.  36.         d  1  John  iii,.  1. 
e  Rom.  viii.  17.        /  1  Kmgs  viii.  27.    2  Chron.  ii.  6.  vi.lS. 


LECTURE    XXX.  265 

his  inexpressible  majesty  in  one  peculiar  place:  where 
He  receives  the  homage  of  ills  holy  angels,  and  issues 
forth  his  commands  for  the  government  of  the  world. 
This  they  call  his  'Throne,'"  and  '  Tal)ernacle  in 
Heaven:'*  of  which  the  earthly  tabernacle  of  Moses 
was  designed  to  bo  a  figure;  being  directed  to  be 
'  made  according  to  the  pattern,  shewed  him  in  the 
Mount.''^  That  earthly  tabernacle  was  honoured  for 
a  long  time  with  splendid  marks  of  the  divine  resi- 
dence: on  which  account,  even  after  they  were  with- 
drawn, the  Jews  would  be  apt  to  consider  God  as 
dwelling  at  Jerusalem  in  his  temple,  'and  sitting  be- 
tween the  (Cherubim/''  But  our  blessed  Lord,  being 
about  to  abolish  the  Mosaic  ordinances,  enlarges  the 
views  of  his  disciples,  and  raises  them  to  that  higher 
habitation  of  inconceivable  glory^  to  which  liiey 
should  hereafter  be  admitted;  and  on  which  tliey 
were  in  tlie  mean  while  to  set  their  hearts,  as  the 
seat  of  all  blessedness. 

But  further,  being  in  Heaven  denotes  likewise  the 
almighty  power  of  God:  agreeably  to  that  of  the 
Psalmist,  '  Ouf  God  is  in  the  Heaven:  He  hath  done 
whatsoever  He  pleased.'*  For  as  a  higher  situation 
gives  a  superior  strength  and  command;  and  accord- 
ingly in  all  lang.uages,  being  exalted  or  brought  low, 
signifies  an  increase  or  lessening  of  dominion  or  influ- 
ence: so  representing  God,  as  placed  al)Ove  all,  is 
designed  to  express,  in  the  strongest  manner,  that 
His  kingdom  ruleth  over  all.'-^ 

When  therefore  we  call  upon  'Our  Father,  who 
is  in  Heaven,'  we  profess  to  God  our  belief,  that  He 
is  the  author  and  preserver  of  the  universe,  who  gov- 
erns all  things  with  paternal  care;  but  extends  his 
favours  especially  to  those,  who  by  imitating  and 
obeying  Him  shew  themselves  his  true  children;  and 
therefore  most  especially  to  such,  as  having  acquired, 
by  the  merits  and  grace  of  bis  Son,  the  nearest  rela- 
tion and  resemblance  to  Him,  have  thereby  a  cove- 

aPsalmii.  4.  »  ffeb.  viii.  1.  2.  •  Ileb.  viii.  5. 

4  Pialm  xcix.  I.  •  Psalm  cxv.  3.  /  ?**'">  c"'- 19- 

Y2 


266 


LECTURE   XXX. 


nant-rigbt  to  an  eternal  inheritance  in  that  blessed 
place,  where  lie  exhibits  his  glory,  and  reigns,  pos- 
sessed of  sovereign  autboritj,  and  boundless  glory. 

Now  applying  thus  to  God,  under  tbe  notion  of 
'our  Father,'  is  excellently  fitted  to  remind  us,  both 
of  the  dutiful  regard,  which  we  ought  to  have  for 
him,  as  He  himself  pleads,  'If  I  be  a  Father,  where 
is  mine  honour?'"  and  also,  of  the  kindness,  Avhich 
we  may  expect  from  him,  according  to  our  Saviour's 
reasoning,  'If  ye,  beingevil,  know  how  to  give  good 
gifts  unto  your  children;  how  much  more  sliall  your 
heavenly  Fatber  give  his  Holy  Spirit  to  tbem  that 
ask  him?'*  Nor  is  this  expression  less  fitted  to  ad- 
monish us  of  copying  the  goodness,  which  we  adore; 
and  exercising  mercy  and  bounty  towards  all  our 
fellow  creatures,  as  far  as  we  can,  '  that  we  may  be,' 
in  this  excellent  sense,  '  the  children  of  our  Father, 
which  is  in  Heaven:  for  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on 
the  evil  and  the  good;  and  scndeth  rain  on  the  just 
and  on  tbe  unjust.'*  And  tbis  admonition  is  greatly 
strengthened,  as  each  of  us  is  directed  to  address  him- 
self to  God,  not  as  to  his  own  father  merely,  but  as 
to  'our  Fatber,'  the  common  parent  of  mankind. 
For  there  is  inexpressible  force  in  that  argument, 
'  Have  we  not  all  one  Fatber,  hath  not  one  God  cre- 
ated us?  Why  do  we  deal  treachei'ously,'  or  in  any 
respect  unjustly  or  unkindly,  'every  man  against  his 
brotbcr?''^  And  yet  with  greater  force  still  doth  it 
hold,  to  prevent  mutual  injuries  or  unkindness  among 
christians:  who  beine:  in  a  much  closer  and  more  en- 
dearing  sense,  children  of  God,  and  brethren  one  to 
another,  than  the  rest  of  the  world;  surely  ought 
never  to  be,  what  they  are  too  often  remarkably  de- 
ficient in,  that  reciprocal  affection,  which  was  in- 
tended as  the  token  whereby  '  all  men  should  know 
them.'* 

Then,  at  the  same  time,  the  consideration,  that 
this  'our  father  is  in  heaven,'  possessed  of  infinite 

a  Mai.  I.  6.  b  Luke  xi.  13  e  Matt.  T.  45. 

d  Mai.  ii.  10.  c  John  siii.  36. 


LECTURE  XXX.  2G7 

power  and  glory,  tends  greatly  to  inspire  U3  with 
reverence  towards  liim,  at  ;ill  times,  and  in  all  places, 
but  in  our  devotions  peculiarly.  And  to  this  end  it 
is  pleaded  by  the  wise  king, '  keep  thy  foot,  when  thou 
gocst  to  the  house  of  God;  be  not  rash  with  thymotith, 
and  let  not  thine  heart  be  hasty  to  utter  any  thin" 
before  God:  for  God  is  in  heaven,  and  thou  upon 
earth.'"  It  also  tends  no  less  to  remind  us,  what  the 
great  end  of  our  prayers  and  our  lives  should  be:  to 
obtain  admiltance  into  that  blessed  place,  'where 
God  is,  and  Christ  sits  on  his  right  hand."'*  '  For  in 
his  presence  is  the  fullness  of  joy;  and  at  his  right 
hand  there  is  pleasure  for  evermore.''^ 

You  see  then,  how  many  important  truths  and  ad- 
monitions, these  few  words,  wliich  begin  tlie  Lord's 
Prayer,  include:  every  thing  indeed,  which  can  en- 
courage us  to  pray,  or  dispose  us  to  pray  as  we  ought. 

Tiie  petition,  which  immediately  follows,  'hollow- 
ed be  thy  name,'  is  perhaps  more  liable  to  be  repeat- 
ed witiiout  being  understood,  than  any  of  the  rest; 
but  when  understood,  as  it  easily  may  be,  appears 
highly  proper  to  stand  in  the  very  tirst  part  of  a 
christian's  prayer.  The  name  of  God  means  here 
God  himself,  his  person  and  attributes:  as  it  doth  in 
many  other  places  of  scripture,  wiicrc  '  fearing,  or 
blessing,  or  calling  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,  is 
mentioned.  And  to  '  hallow  his  name'  signifies  to 
think  of  him  as  a  holy  being,  and  behave  towards 
him  accordingly.  Now  the  word  'holy'  hath  been 
already  more  than  once,  in  the  course  of  these  Lec- 
tures, explained  to  mean  whatever  is  worthy  of  be- 
ing distinguisiied  with  serious  respect.  And  there- 
fore all  such  persons,  places,  things,  and  times  as  are 
set  apart  from  vulgar  uses,  and  devoted  to  religious 
ones,  are  said  in  scripture  to  be  holy,  and  command- 
ed to  be  hallowed.  Now  these  being  generally  pre- 
served with  great  care,  as  they  always  ought,  from 
whatever  may  defile  and  pollute  them;    hence  tha 

•  Eccl.  V.  1,  2-  »  Col.  iii.  1.  «  Psalm  xti.  11. 


268  LECTURE    XXX. 

term  holy,  came  to  signify  what  is  clean  and  pure. 
And  the  most  valuable  purity,  beyond  comparison, 
being  that  of  a  mind  untainted  by  sin,  and  secure 
from  tendencies  towards  it;  holiness  more  especially 
denotes  this;  and  may  in  various  degrees  be  ascribed 
to  men  and  angels;  but  in  absolute  perfection  in 
none,  but  God.  For  he,  and  he  alone,  is  infinitely 
removed  from  all  possibility  of  doing  or  thinking,  or 
approving  evil. 

This  then  is  the  sense,  in  which  we  are  to  acknowl- 
edge, that  '  holy  and  reverend  is  his  name:'"  this  con- 
ception of  him  is  the  manner  in  which  we  are  to 
'hallow*  it,  and  'sanctify  the  Lord  God  in  oiirhearts:'* 
a  matter  of  unspeakable  importance,  and  the  very 
foundation  of  all  true  religion.  For  if  we  are  not 
fully  pursuaded,  that  he  is  'of  purer  eyes,  than  to 
behold  evii''^  with  inditrerence;  if  we  imagine  that 
he  can  ever  act  unrighteously  himself,  or  allow  oth- 
ers to  do  so:  that  he  is  in  any  case  the  author  of  sin: 
or  esteems  and  loves  any  thing  in  his  creatures,  but 
uprightness  and  goodness;  or  show  himself  to  be 
other,  than  a  perfectly  great,  and  wise,  and  just,  and 
gracious  being;  so  far  as  we  do  this,  we  mistake  his 
nature,  and  dishonor  him;  and  set  up  an  idol  of  our 
own  Fancy,  instead  of  the  true  God.  The  conse- 
quence of  which  will  be,  that  in  proportion  as  our 
notions  of  him  are  false,  our  worship,  imitation,  and 
obedience  will  be  erroneous  also:  our  piety  and  our 
morals  will  both  be  corrupted:  we  shall  neglect  what 
alone  can  recommend  us  to  him:  we  shall  hope  to 
please  him  by  performances  of  no  value,  perhaps  b}' 
wicked  deeds;  and  '  the  light,  that  is  in  us,  will  be- 
come darkness."^ 

No  wonder,  then,  if  we  are  directed  to  make  it  our 
first  petition,  that  we  and  all  men  may  '  hallow  God's 
name,'  as  we  ought:  that  so  a  right  sense  of  his  na- 
ture and  attributes,  especially  his  wisdom,  justice, 
and  goodness  may  prevail  through  the  world,  as  may 

•  Pealm  cxi.  9.      J  1  Pet.  iU,  15.        e  Hab.  i.  13.        d  Matth.  vi.  23. 


LECTURE   XXXI.  269 

banish  at  onccbotli  profaneness  and  superstition, and 
engage  us  all  to  fear  and  love  him  equally:  that  we 
may  entertain  such  notions  of  Christianity,  as  will 
promote  its  honor;  and  allow  ourselves  in  nothing, 
that  may  bring  disgrace  upon  it,  or  tempt  any  to 
^blaspheme,'  instead  of  sanctifying,  '  that  worthy 
name  by  which  they  are  called:"  but  that  each  of  us 
in  our  stations,  may,  with  all  diligence,  and  all 
prudence,  propagate  the  belief  of  '  pure  religion  and 
undeliled  before  God  and  the  father."*  This  is  the 
way,  and  the  only  way  possible,  for  us  truly  to  honor 
him,  and  be  truly  good  and  happy;  happy  in  our- 
selves, and  in  each  other;  in  the  present  world,  and 
that  which  is  to  come.  With  this  petition, therefore, 
our  blessed  Lord  most  rationally  directs  us  to  begin. 
And  let  us  all  remember,  that  what  he  bids  us  pray 
for  in  the  tirst  place,  he  will  expect  that  we  sliould 
endeavor  after  in  the  tu'st  place,  and  as  we  acknowl- 
edge '  him,  who  hath  called  us  to  be  holy,'  that  we 
should  '  be  holy  also,  in  all  manncrof  conversation.*' 


LECTURE   XXX  L 

THY    KINGDOM    COME,  TIIV    WILL    BE    DONE. 

The  second  petition  of  the  Lord's  prayer, '  thy 
kingdom  come,'  follows  very  naturally  after  the  first, 
'hallowed  be  thy  name.'  For  hallowing  the  name 
of  God,  that  is,  entertaining  just  notions,  and  being 
possessed  with  a  deep  sense,  of  the  holiness  of  his 
nature,  his  abhorence  of  sin,  his  justice  and  good- 
ness; is  the  necessary  preparative  for  submitting  to, 
and  being  faithful  subjects  of  that  kingdom,  for  the 
coming  of  which  we  are  directed  to  pray. 

God  indeed  is,  ever  was,  and  cannot  but  bo.  Lord 
and  King  of  the  whole  world,  possessed  of  all  right 
and  all  dominion  over  all  things:  as  the  plainest  rea- 

8  James  ii.  7.  b  James  i.  27.  e  1  Pet.  i.  15. 


270 


LECTURE  XXXI. 


son  shews,  and  the  conclusion  of  tliis  very  prayer,  in 
conformity  to  the  rest  of  scripture,  acknowledges.  In 
this  sense  therefore  we  cannot  pray  for  liis  kingdom, 
as  something  future,  but  only  rejoice  in  its  being  ac- 
tually present:  for  what  can  be  greater  joy,  than  to 
live  under  the  government  of  intinite  meicy.  Wis- 
dom, and  power?  'The  Lord  reigneth:  let  the  earth 
rejoice,  let  the  multitude  of  isles  be  glad  thereof.'" 

But  besides  this  natural  kingdom  of  God,  there  is 
amoral  and  spiritual  one,  founded  on  the  willing  obe- 
dience of  reasonable  creatures  to  those  laws  of  righ- 
teousness, which  he  luith  given  them.  Now  this,  we 
have  too  plain  evidence,  is  not  yet  come  amongst 
men  so  fully  as  it  ought.  The  very  first  of  hum.an 
race  revolted  from  their  maker;  and  their  descend- 
ants, as  both  scripture  andother  historyshews,  grew, 
age  after  age,  yet  more  and  more  disobedient:  till  at 
length,  the  inhabitants  of  the  wliole  earth,  instead  of 
being  tlie  happy  subjects  of  God's  rightful  empire, 
became,  by  immoral  lives,  and  idolatrous  worsiiip, 
most  wretched  slaves  to  the  usurped  dominion  of  the 
wicked  one.  The  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God  made 
immediate  provision,  through  his  only  son  our  Lord, 
to  oppose  this  kingdom  of  darkness,  as  soon  as  it  ap- 
peared in  the  world:  not  by  his  absolute  power:  for 
obedience  loses  its  value,  unless  it  proceeds  from 
choice;  but  by  the  rational  method  of  instructions, 
promises,  and  warnings  from  heaven,  superadded  to 
what  nature  taught,  and  suited  to  the  circumstances 
of  every  age. 

These  he  gave  at  first  by  the  Patriarchs  to  all  men 
promiscuously;  and  v/hoever  acknowledged  his  au- 
thority and  obeyed  his  laws,  was  a  good  subject  and 
true  member  of  his  kingdom.  But  when  afterwards, 
notwithstanding  this  care,  the  corruption  of  mankind 
was  become  general,  he  chose  the  posterity  of  his 
servant  Abraham,  and  distinguished  them  byhisespe- 

o  Psalm  xcvii.  1, 


LECTURE  xxxr.  '-271 

cial  favor:  not  as  casting  off  the  rest  of  the  world; 
for 'in  every  nation,*at  all  times, '  lliey  (hat  fcarliod 
and  work  righteousness,  are  accepted  with  liim,'"  but 
that,  in  this  people,  at  least,  tiie  profcsHon  of  faith 
in  him,  and  subjection  to  him,  might  be  kept  alive; 
not  merely  for  their  own  benefit,  but  the  information 
of  others  also.  With  them  therefore  was  the  king- 
dom of  God,  in  a  peculiar  degree,  for  15t)U  years. — 
While  they  flourished  in  their  own  land,  they  held 
forth  the  light  of  truth  to  all  the  nations  round  them. 
And  when  they  were  led  captive,  or  dis|)ersed  into 
other  lands,  tliey  spread  it  yet  firlher:  and  thus  were 
great  instruments  in  preparing  the  rest  of  mankind 
for  that  general  re-establishment  of  obedience  (o  the 
true  God,  as  King  and  Lord  of  all,  uhich  our  bles- 
sed saviour  came  to  ellcct. 

The  gospel  dispensation  therefore  having  this  for 
its  end,  and  being  much  more  perfectly  fitted  to  at- 
tain it,  than  any  preceding  manifestation  of  religion 
had  been;  the  scripture,  in  a  distinguished  manner, 
calls  it  'the  kingdom  of  God,  or  of  Heaven:'  both 
which  words  denote  inexactly  the  same  view,  that  do- 
minion, which  in  Daniel  it  is  foretold  'the  God  of  heav- 
en should  set  up,  and  which  should  never  be  destroy- 
ed.'* Our  saviour  was  then  after  John  the  Baptist, 
only  giving  notice  of  its  approach,  and  opening  the 
way  for  setting  it  up,  when  he  first  directed  his  dc- 
sciples  to  pray,  that  it  might  come.  By  his  death  he 
raised  it  on  the  ruins  of  the  Devil's  usurpation,  'over 
whom  he  triumphed  on  his  Cross:'  and  now  it  hath 
been  many  ages  in  the  world.  But  still  it  is  by  no 
means  come,  in  that  extent,  and  to  that  good  effect, 
which  we  have  reason  to  beg  that  it  may,  and  to  be- 
lieve that  it  will.  The  largest  part  of  mankind  hath 
not,  so  much  as  in  profession,  entered  into  this  king- 
dom: but  lies  overwhelmned  in  Pagan  idolatory, 
Jewish  unbelief,  or  Mahometan  delusion.  The  larg- 
est part  of  Christians  have  corrupted  the  doctrines 

«  AcU  I.  35.  »  Daa.  U.  44.  •  C\»I.  ii.  13. 


272  LECTURE   XXXI. 

of  Christ  with  grievous  errors:  and  those  who  pre- 
serve the  purest  faith,  too  generally  live  such  impure 
and  wicked  lives;  that,  though  the  kingdom  of  God 
hath  indeed  taken  place  amongst  them  in  outward 
appearance,  yet  in  that  sense,  which  will  prove  at 
least  the  only  important  one,  they  are  still  far  from 
it.  '  For  the  kingdom  of  God,'  saith  our  saviour,  'is 
within  you:'"  and  consists,  as  the  apostle  further  ex- 
plains it, '  in  righteousness  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the 
graces  of  the  Holy  Ghost'.* 

Here  then  is  great  room,  and  great  need,  for  pray- 
ing; that  the  'Heathen'  may  become  the  'inheritance' 
of  Christ,  'and  the  uttermost  part  of  the  Mahome- 
tan world  in  his  possession  :Mhat  tlie  Jews,  'from 
whom,'  for  their  unbelief,'  the  kingdom  of  God  hath 
been  so  long  taken"^  away  may  be  restored  to  a  share 
in  it;  as  the  prophets,  both  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  have  foretold  they  shall:  and  lastly,  'that 
all  who  profess  and  call  themselves  Christians,  may 
not  only  be  led  into  the  way  of  truth,  but  hold  the 
faith  in  unity  of  spirit,  in  the  bond  of  peace,  and  in 
righteousness  of  life.'''  How  little  prospect  soever 
there  may  be  a  present  of  such  happiness  as  this, yet 
'  we  have  a  sure  word  of  prophecy,'-^  for  the  ground 
of  our  prayers,  that  the  time  shall  come,  when  '  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  be  the  kingdoms  of  our 
God  and  of  his  Christ,'^  in  a  degree  that  they  have 
never  been  yet;  when  '  all  the  people  shall  be  righ- 
teous,"' and  '  know  the  Lord  from  the  greatest  unto 
the  least.'' 

But  the  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth,  even  in  its 
best  estate,  is  comparatively  but  short-lived,  and  im- 
perfect, indeed  a  mere  introduction  to  that  glorious 
and  eternal  manifestation  of  it  in  heaven,  which 
ought  ever  to  be  the  object  of  our  most  ardent  de- 
sires  and   requests.      For  as  the  governor,  and  the 

a  Luke  xvii.  21.  b  Bom.  xiv.  17                        c  Psalm  ii.  8. 

d  Matth.  xxi.  43.  e  Prayer  for  all  conditions  of  men. 

/  2  Pet.  i.  19.  g  Kev.  xi.  15.                         h  Isa.  Ix.  21. 
i  Jer.  xsxi.  34. 


LEcrrunE  XXXI.  *W3 

governed,  and  the  great  fundamental  laws  of  govern- 
ment, are,  still  to  be  the  same,  in  the  present  state 
of  trial,  and  the  future  one  of  recompense,  they  both 
make  up  together  but  one  kingdom  of  God.  And 
therefore,  when  we  pray  for  the  coming  of  it,  we  pray 
in  the  last  place,  for  the  arrival  of  that  time,  when 
the  king  and  judge  of  all  'shall  sit  upon  the  throne 
of  his  glory j""^ '  and  reward  every  man  according  to 
his  works;'''  when  'the  righteous  shall  shine  fortii  as 
the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their  father ;'"=  even  that 
'  kingdom  which  was  prepared  for  them  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world^'*^  and  'shall  reign  with  him 
in  it  for  ever  and  ever.*" 

But  then  as  we  pray  for  this  time,  we  must  prepare 
for  it  also:  else  we  do  nothing  but  ask  our  own  con- 
demnation; as  the  prophet  Amos  has  most  awfully 
warned  us:  '  wo  unto  you  that  desire  the  day  of  the 
Lord.  To  what  end  is  it  for  you?  The  day  of  the 
Lord  is  darkness,  and  not  light. '-^ 

To  instruct  us  tlicrcforc,  on  what  it  is,  that  our 
share  in  the  kingdom  of  God  depends,  our  Saviour 
immediately  subjoins  another  petition,  expressing  it 
very  clearly:  'thy.  will  be  done  in  earth  as  it  is  in 
heaven.'  For  '  not  every  one  that  saith  unto  him. 
Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  :'6' 
but  they  only  who  '  do  the  will  of  God,  shall  receive 
his  promise.*'^ 

Indeed  what  God  '  wills' to  do  himself,  that '  he 
doth  accordingly,  both  in  the  army  of  heaven,  and 
amongst  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth;  and  none  can 
stay  his  hand.''  But  what  he  wills  us  to  do,  that  he 
only  requires  of  us,  as  we  value  his  favor,  or  fear  his 
displeasure;  leaving  us  designedly  that  power  of  not 
doing  what  he  bids  us,  without  which,  doing  it  were 
no  virtue.  But  though  disobedience  to  his  will  is  in 
our  power;  yet  obedience  is  not  so,  without  the  as- 
sistance of  his  grace:  which  therefore,  in  these  words, 

a  Matth.  XXV.  31.  h  Matth.  xvi.  27.  c  Matth.  xiii.  43. 

d  Matth.  XXV.  34  e  Rev.  xx.  6.     sxii.  5.  /  Amos  v.  18. 

r  Mattli.  vii.  21.  *  Heb.  x.  36.  »  Dan.  iv.35. 

z 


274  LECTURE   XXXI. 

we  desire  for  ourselves,  and  for  all  men.  And  since 
by  the  means  of  prayer  we  may  have  strength  to 
obey  his  will  granted  us;  we  are  certainly  with  as 
much  justice,  expected  to  obey  it,  as  if  we  had  the 
power  already  of  our  own. 

Now  the  will  of  God  consists  in  these  two  things; 
that  we  suffer  patiently  what  he  lays  upon  us,  and 
perform  faithfully  what  he  commands  us.  The  for- 
mer of  these:  to  bear  with  resignation  whatever,  in 
any  kind,  God  sees  proper  to  inllict;  and  though  we 
may  wish  and  pray  for  the  prevention  or  removal  of 
suflerings,  yet  to  be  content,  nay  desirous  that 'his 
will  should  be  done,  not  ours;'"  may  often  prove  a 
difficult,  but  is  also  an  evident  and  necessary  duty. 
For  to  indulge  a  contrary  disposition,  is  to  set  up 
ourselves  above  our  Maker;  to  rebel  against  his  au- 
thority, deny  his  wisdom  and  distrust  his  goodness. 
The  ability  therefore  of  submitting  meekly  to  his 
pleasure,  is  undoubtedly  one  great  thing  that  we  are 
to  request,  and  endeavor  to  obtain. 

But  still,  as  the  blessed  inhabitants  of  heaven  sure- 
ly have  little  or  no  occasion  for  this  kind  of  obedi- 
ence, we  have  reason  to  think  that  the  other,  the 
active  sort,  is  the  point  which  our  Saviour  designed 
we  should  principally  have  in  view,  when  we  beg, 
that  God's  will  may  be  done  by  up,  as  it  is  by  them: 
by  his  '  Angels  that  fulfill  his  commandments,  heark- 
enino"  unto  the  voice  of  his  words;  those  ministers  of 
his,  that  do  his  pleasure.'*  Not  that  we  can  hope  to 
equal  the  services  of  beings  placed  so  much  above  us: 
but  only  aspire  to  such  resemblance  of  them,  that  our 
obedience  ma}^  bear  the  same  proportion  to  our  abili- 
ties, which  that  of  the  heavenly  spirits  doth  to  theirs. 
Their  knowledge  of  God's  will  is  clear  and  distinct: 
on  which  account  the  highest  character  given  of  hu- 
man wisdom  is,  to  be  'as  an  Angel  of  God  to  dcsccrn 
o-ood  and  bad.'''  It  should  therefore,  when  we  make 
use  of  this  petition,  be    our  desire  that  we  also,  in 

a  Luke  xxii.  42.  i  PbuI.  ciii.  20,  21.  «  2  Sam.  xiv.  17. 


LECTDttE   XXXII.  275 

our  degree,  may  '  Ijc  not  unwise,  but  understanding 
what  the  will  of  the  Lord  is;'"  'and  may  abound  more 
and  more,  in  knowledge  and  all  judgment.'''  They 
do  every  thing,  w^ithout  exception,  which  tliey  know 
to  be  God's  pleasure:  whereas  wc  are  very  apt  to 
omit  part,  and  perform  the  rest  hut  imperfectly.  They 
do  it  with  alacrity  and  clicerfulness;  Avhereas  we  too 
often  shew  great  backwardness  and  reluctance.  They 
do  it  also  from  a  real  principle  of  duty:  whereas 
were  the  truth  but  known,  as  to  God  it  is  known,  a 
great  share  of  the  good  actions  upon  w^hich  we  value 
ourselves,  are  perhaps  only  good  appearances:  pro- 
ceeding, some  from  constitution,  some  from  worldly 
prudence,  some  from  vanity;  few  it  maybe  doubted, 
principally,  and  fewer  yet,  entirely,  from  the  love  or 
fear  of  God,  from  esteem  of  virtiio,  or  hatred  of  sin. 
In  these  respects  then  we  must  earnestly  pray,  and 
diligentl}'  endeavor,  to  be  like  the  holy  angels;  and 
were  we  but  like  them  in  one  thing  more,  that  they 
all,  without  exeption,  do  the  will  of  God,  and  have 
none  amongst  them  disobedient  to  it;  then  would  our 
earth  resemble  heaven  indeed.  How  far  this  is  from 
being  the  case,  we  know  too  well.  But  notwithstand- 
ing, let  us  comfort  ourselves  with  considering  that 
as  the  time  was,  when  even  these  blessed  spirits  had 
a  mixture  of  evil  ones  amongst  them;  so  the  time 
will  be,  when  we  shall  have  no  such  mixture  amongst 
us,  but  shall  become  in  this  and  all  respects  'as  the 
angels  of  God  in  heaven.''^ 


LECTURE    XXXII. 

Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread:  and  forgive  us  our 
trespasses,  as  we  forgive  those  who  trespass  against 
us. 

The  three  former  of  the  six  petitions  of  the  Lord's 
prayer  express  our  earnest  desires  that  we,  and  all 

a  Epb.  V.  17.  *  Phil,  i.  9-  «  Malth.  xxil.  30. 


276  LECTURE   XXXII. 

our  fellow  creatures,  may  attain  the  great  end  of  our 
creation;  that  is,  may  understand,  receive,  and  prac- 
tice, true  religion,  to  God's  honour,  and  our  own 
eternal  happiness:  after  which  we  proceed,  in  the 
three  last,  to  ask  of  Ilim  the  means  to  this  end;  such 
supplies  of  our  wants,  as  will  be  needful  for  the  per- 
formance of  our  duties.  And  they  are  comprehended 
under  three  heads  more:  the  relief  of  our  temporal 
necessities,  the  forgiveness  of  our  past  sins,  and  the 
assistance  of  his  grace  against  future  temptations. 

The  first  of  these  blessings  we  request,  by  saying 
*■  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread."  All  the  good 
things  of  life,  and  all  our  capacity  of  receiving 
support  and  comfort  from  them,  proceed,  as  every 
thing  doth,  from  God's  free  gift;  and  therefore  de- 
pend, as  every  thing  doth,  on  his  free  pleasure:  for 
what  He  hath  bestowed.  He  can,  v/ith  just  the  same 
ease,  at  any  time,  take  away.  He  hath  placed  things 
indeed  in  a  regular,  and  what  we  call  a  natural 
course  and  order.  But  this  order  is  not  only  of  his 
own  appointing,  but  his  own  preserving  too.  He  it 
is,  'that  raaketh  the  sun  to  rise;'*^  that  '  giveth  us 
rain  from  Heaven,  and  fruitful  seasons,  filling  our 
hearts  with  food  and  gladness.'*  Were  He  only 
thus  kind  to  us  all  in  general,  it  would  certainly  be 
our  duty  to  acknowledge  his  kindness,  and  pray  for 
the  continuance  of  it.  But  as  we  learn  from  Scrip- 
ture further,  that  his  providence  extends,  even  in  the 
minutest  instances,  to  each  of  us  in  particular;  and 
that  not  the  smallest  thing  comes  to  pass,  but  by  his 
appointment,  or  wise  permission  ;*=  that  his  continual 
superintendency  may  be  ever  exercised  towards  us 
for  our  good.  We  know  not  indeed,  with  certainty, 
in  these  matters,  what  will  be  good  for  us.  But  still, 
since  He  hath  given  us  desires,  inseparable  from  our 
frame,  of  enjoying  life  to  its  ordinary  term:  with  a 
competent  share  of  the  several  accommodations 
which  contribute  to  make  it  agreeable;  it  must  be 

«  Mattli.  V,  45,        b  Acta  xiy.  17-        «  Mattli.  s,29.3Q.  Luke  xU.  6. 7. 


LECTURE  xxxir.  277 

lawful  to  express  those  desires  to  Him  iii  a  proper 
manner.  And  this  our  Saviour  directs  us  how  to  do, 
wlien  He  bids  us  petition  for  'our  daily  bread.' 

The  word  '  bread,'  as  it  frequently  signifies  in 
Scripture  all  sorts  of  food,  so  it  may  very  naturally 
signi(y,  what  it  dotli  in  this  prayer,  all  sorts  of  things 
requisite  in  human  life.  This  Agur  meant,  when  he 
prayed,  that  God  would  'feed  him  with  food;'  in  the 
original  it  is  '  Bread  convenient  for  him.'"  And  this 
we  mean  in  common  discourse,  as  often  as  we  speak 
of  persons  getting  their  bread.  But  then  it  must  by 
no  means,  be  extended  beyond  things  requisite; 
those,  without  which  we  are  unable  either  to  subsist 
at  all,  or  however  conveniently  and  comfortably. 
Not  that  desires  of  further  advantages  in  the  world 
are  universally  unlawful.  But  they  arc  so  apt  to  en- 
large,and  swell  into  extravagant  and  sinful  passions; 
into  schemes  of  luxury,  or  vanity,  or  covetousness; 
that  we  have  usually  much  more  need  to  restrain 
and  check,  than  authorize  them,  by  asking  the  ac- 
complishment of  them  from  God;  lest  we  be  guilty 
of  what  St.  James  condemns, '  asking  amiss,  that  we 
may  consume  it  upon  our  lusts.'* 

It  is  therefore  only  for  such  a  share  of  worldly 
good,  as  to  a  reasonable  and  moderate  mind  w  ill  ap- 
pear sufficient,  that  our  Saviour  allows  us  here  to 
pray;  in  the  spirit  which  Agur  in  the  prayer  just 
mentioned,  expresses,  'Give  me  ncitli'^r  poverty  nor 
riches:  feed  me  with  food  convenient  for  me.  Lest 
I  be  full  and  deny  Thee,  and  say,  Who  is  the  Lord? 
or  lest  1  be  poor  and  steal,  and  take  the  name  of  my 
God  in  vain.'"^  For  indeed,  though  the  t'  mptations 
of  extreme  poverty  are  very  great;  yet  the  tenden- 
cy of  wealth  and  ease  and  power,  to  sensuality  and 
pride  and  forgetfulness  of  God,  is  so  exceeding  strong, 
that  a  well  instructed  and  considerate  mind  would 
rather  submit,  than  choose  to  be  placed  in  a  condi- 
tion of  abundance  and  eminence.     For  preserving 

«  ProT.  XXX.  8.  b  Jamea  iv.  3.  #  P'ot.  xxx.  8, 9. 

Z2 


27S  LECTURE   XXXII. 

the  order,  and  conducting  the  affairs  of  the  world, 
some  must  be  in  such  stations:  but  let  those  who  are, 
look  well  to  their  ways;  and  let  none  of  their  infe- 
riours  envy  them. 

It  ought  to  be  further  observed  here,  that  our 
blessed  Lord  hath  not  only  confined  us  to  pray  for 
our  bread,  but  'our  daily  bread;'  to  be  given  us,  as 
we  ask  for  it,  day  by  day;  intending,  doubtless,  to 
make  us  remember  and  acknowledge  that  our  de- 
pendence on  God  is  continued,  from  one  moment  to 
another:  that  they  who  have  the  most  of  this  world, 
have  it  only  during  his  pleasure;  and  are  bound, both 
to  ask,  and  receive,  every  day's  enjoyment  of  it,  as  a 
new  gift  from  Him:  while,  at  the  same  time,  they 
who  have  least  may  be  assured,  that  v/hat  He  hath 
commanded  them  to  pray  for,  He  will  ordinarily  not 
fail  to  bestow  upon  them;  by  blessing  their  endeavours, 
if  they  are  able  to  use  endeavours;  or  by  stirring  up 
the  charity  of  others  towards  them,  if  they  are  not. 

But  as  to  those  who  can  labour,  industry  is  the 
method  by  which  God  hath  thought  fit  to  give  them 
their  bread;  and,  therefore,  by  which  they  ought  to 
seek  it.  They  have  no  title  to  it  any  other  way;  St. 
Paul  having  directed, '  that  if  any  one  will  not  work, 
neither  should  he  eat.'"  Nor  must  they  work  only  to 
supply  their  present  necessities:  but  by  diligence 
and  frugality,  lay  up  something,  if  possible,  for  fu- 
ture exigencies  also;  learning  of  the  '  Ant,  which 
provideth  her  meat  in  the  summer,  and  gathereth 
her  food  in  the  harvest.'* 

So  that  applying  for  our  daily  bread  to  God,  is  far 
from  excluding  a  proper  care  to  use  the  appointed 
means  of  procuring  it  for  ourselves.  But  if  our  care 
be  a  presumptuous  one,  and  void  of  regard  to  the 
disposer  of  all  things;  we  provoke  him  to  blast  our 
fairest  hopes.  And  if  it  be  an  anxious  and  distrust- 
ful one,  we  think  injuriously  of  him  to  whom  we 
pray;  who  can  as  easily  give  us  the  bread  of  to-mor- 

a  i  Tbew.  lii.  10-  t  FroT.  vi.  8. 


LECTURE   XXXII.  279 

rov\',  as  he  gave  us  that  of  yesterday.  Nay,  if  our 
worldly  cares,  though  they  do  not  disquiet  our  minds, 
yet  engross  them:  if  we  carry  our  attention  to  this 
world  so  far  as  to  forget  the  next;  or  imagine  our- 
selves to  be  securer  in  stores,  'laid  up  for  many 
years,'"  than  in  God's  good  providence;  this  also  is 
very  unsuitable  to  the  spirit,  both  of  our  Lord's 
prayer,  and  of  his  whole  religion;  which  commands 
us  to  'seeklirst  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righte- 
ousness,'* and  '  not  to  trust  in  uncertain  riches,  but  in 
Him,  who  giveth  us  richly  all  things  to  enjoy.'*^ 

I  shall  only  add  two  observations  more,  which 
have  been  made  very  justly  on  this  petition:*^  that 
since  we  ask  our  bread  from  God,  we  ought  not  to 
accept  it  from  the  devil;  that  is,  to  gain  our  subsis- 
tence by  any  unlawful  means:  and  that,  since  we  do 
not  say,  'Give  me  my  daily  bread;'  but  'Give  us 
ours;'  wc  entreat  God  to  supply  the  wants  of  others,^ 
as  well  as  our  own.  Now  the  means  which  He  hath 
provided  for  supplying  the  wants  of  the  helpless  poor, 
is  the  chairty  of  the  rich,  and  to  pray  Him,  that  they 
may  be  relieved,  and  yet  withhold  from  them  what 
he  hath  designed  for  their  relief,  is  just  that  piece  of 
inconsistence  or  hypocrisy  which  St.  James  so  strong- 
ly exposes.  '  If  a  brother,  or  sister,  be  naked,  and 
destitute  of  daily  food ;  and  one  of  you  say  unto  them, 
Jlepart  in  peace,  be  ye  warmed,  and  be  ye  filled: 
notwithstanding  ye  give  them  not  those  things  which 
are  needful  to  the  body;  what  doth  it  profit?'^ 

From  our  temporal  wants,  we  proceed  next  to  a 
much  more  important  concern,  our  spiritual  ones: 
and  here  we  ask  in  the  first  place,  what  it  is  very  fit 
we  should,  pardon  and  mercy.  '  Forgive  us  our 
trespasses,  as  we  forgive  those  who  trespass  against 
us.'  The  forgiveness  of  sins  having  been  already  ex- 
plained, under  that  article  of  the  creed  which  re- 
lates to  it,  I  shall  only  take  notice  at  present  of  the 
argument,  which  we  are  directed  to  use  in  pleading 

a  Luke  xii.  19.  J  Matth.  vl.  33.  •  I  Tim.  vL  17. 

d  By  Bisbop  Blackball,  e  James  ii.  15,  16. 


^^^  LECTURE    XXXir. 


font,  which  IS  hkewise  the  especial  condition  of  our 
obtaining  it;  'that  we  also  forgive,"^  as  we  hope  to 
be  forgiven.  And  concerning  this,  two  things  ought 
to  be  understood:  Mdiat  that  forgiveness  is,  to  which 
we  are  bound;  and  how  far  the  exercise  of  it  will 
avail  us. 

Now  the  obligation  to  forgiveness  means,  not  that 
he  magistrate  is  to  omit  punishing  malefactors;  '  for 
he  IS  the  minister  of  God,  a  revenger  to  execute  wrath 
upon  him  that  doth  evil:'*  not  that  the  rulers  of  the 
church  are  to  forbear  spiritual  censures  against  no- 
torious offenders;  for  the   Scripture  hath  appointed 
themfor   he  amendment  of  sinners,  and  the  preserva- 
tion oi   the  iiinocent,  when  they  are   likely  to  have 
these  good  effects:  not  that  private  persons  do  amiss 
in  bringing  transgressors  to  justice;  for  neglecting  it 
would  be  in  general  only  a  seeming  kindness  to  them, 
andareeil  mischief  to  human  society:  not   that  we 
are  forbid  to  make  reasonable  demands  on  such,  as 
withhold  our  dues,  or  do  us  any  damage;  for  recover- 
Hig  a  debt  IS  a   very  different   thing  from  revengin- 
an  injury:  nor  lastly,  that  we  are  always  bound,  wheS 
persons  have  behaved  ill  to  us,  either  to  think  as  well 
ot  them  as  before,  which  may  be   impossible:  or  to 
trust  and  fovour  them  as  much;  which  may  be  un- 
wise.    But  our  obligation  to  forgive  doth  mean  and 
absolutely  require,  that  civil  governors  be  moderate 
and  merciful:  ana  ecclesiastical  ones  make   use  of 
discipline  'to  edification,  not  to  destruction :'«   that 
m  our  private  capaciy,  we  pass  by  all  offences,  which 
with  safety  to  ourselves,  and  the  public,  we  can:  that 
where   we   must  punish,  we  do  it  with  reluctance: 
and  as  gently,  as   the  case  will   permit;  and  where 
we  must  defend  or  recover  our  rights,  we  do  it  with 
the  least  expense,  and  the  least  uneasiness  to  the  ad- 
verse  party,  that  may  be:  that  we  never  be  guilty  of 
injustice  to  others,  because  they  have  been  |uilty  of 
It  to  us;  and  never  refuse  them  proper  favours  mere- 

.Lukezl.4  JEom.xiii.4.  .  2  Cor.  «.  8.  ziit.  10. 


LlJCtURE  XXKII.  28'I 

ly  because  we  have  been  refused  such  favours  by 
thcni;  much  less  because  we  luive  not  obtahied  from 
them  what  it  was  not  ht  that  we  should:  that  we 
look  upon  little  provocations,  as  trifles;  and  be  care- 
iul,  not  to  think  great  ones  greater  than  they  are: 
that  we  be  willing  to  make  those,  who  have  displeased 
lis,  all  such  allowance  to  the  full,  as  our  common 
frailty  and  ignorance  demand:  that  we  always  wish 
well  lo  them;  and  be  ready,  as  soon  as  ever  we  have 
real  cause,  to  think  well  of  them;  to  believe  their 
repentance;  and,  how  great  or  many  soever  their 
faults  may  have  been,  to  accept  it;  and  restore  them 
to  as  large  a  share  of  our  kindness  and  friendship,  as 
any  wise  and  good  person,  uninterested  in  the  ques- 
tion, would  think  safe  and  right:  always  remember- 
ing, in  every  case  of  injury,  how  very  apt  we  are  to 
err  on  the  severe  side;  and  how  very  much  better  it 
is,  to  err  on  the  merciful  one. 

This  is  the  temper  of  forgiveness  to  our  fellow- 
creatures;  and  it  is  plainly  a  good  and  fit  temper. 
Let  us  tiierefore  now  consider  further,  what  influence 
it  will  have  towards  our  Maker's  forgiving  us.  Our 
Saviour  undoubtedly  lays  a  peculiar  stress  on  it  for 
this  purpose;  both  by  inserting  it,  as  a  condition, 
into  the  body  of  his  prayer;  and  insisting  on  it,  as  a 
necessary  one,  in  his  words  immediately  after  the 
prayer.  But  still,  we  must  observe.  He  doth  not 
mention  it  as  the  cause,  that  procures  our  forgive- 
ness? for  'God  saveth  us  not  by'  this,  or  any  other 
'works  of  righteousness,  which  we  do,  but  according 
to  his  mercy,  which  he  hath  shed  on  us  abundantly 
through  Jesus  Christ;  that  being  justified  by  his 
grace,  we  may  be  heirs  of  eternal  life.'"  Our  par- 
doning others  is  no  more  than  a  qualification,  requi- 
site to  our  receiving  that  final  pardon  from  God, 
which  our  Saviour,  through  the  divine  goodness,  hath 
merited  by  his  death,  on  that  condition.  Nor  is  it  the 
only  qualification  necessary,  though  it  be  a  principal 
one.     For  the  rest  of  God's  laws  were  given  in  vain, 

o  Tit,  ill.  5,  6,  7 


282 


LECTURE  XXXII. 


if  observing  this  one  would  secure  his  favour:  and 
Christ  would  be  found  '  tlie  minister  of  sin,''^  if  He 
had  taught,  that  the  single  good  disposition  of  for- 
giveness would  be  suflicient,  let  a  person  have  ever 
so  many  bad  ones.  But  it  is  plain,  that  throughout 
the  whole  sermon  on  the  mount,  on  which  this  prayer 
is  delivered,  He  makes  the  performance  of  every 
part  of  our  duty  the  condition  of  our  acceptance.  In 
the  very  beginning  of  it,  he  hath  promised  Heaven 
to  several  other  virtues,  as  well  as  here  to  this;  and 
the  meaning  is,  not  that  persons  may  get  thither  by 
any  one  that  they  will,  for  nobody  sure  is  so  bad  as 
to  have  none  at  all,  but  that  each  of  them  shall  have 
its  proper  share,  in  fitting  us  for  that  mercy  and  re- 
ward, which  however  with  less  than  all  of  them,  we 
shall  never  obtain.  Our  imperfections  in  all  will  in- 
deed  be  pardoned:  but  not  our  continuance  in  a  will- 
ful neglect  of  an}'. 

Still,  though  a  spirit  of  forgiveness  to  our  brother 
is  by  no  means  the  whole  that  God  requires  in  order 
to  forgive  us;  yet  it  is  a  quality,  often  so  difficult, 
always  so  important,  and  so  peculiarly  needful  to  be 
exercised  by  us  when  we  are  entreating  our  Maker 
to  exercise  it  towards  us,  that  our  Saviour  had  great 
reason  to  place  it  in  the  strong  light  which  he  hath 
done:  and  even  to  place  it  single:  since  his  design 
could  not  easily  be  understood  to  be  any  other,  than 
to  engage  our  particular  attention  to  what  deserves 
it  so  much.  For  if  we  will  not,  for  the  love  of  God, 
and  in  obedience  to  his  command,  pardon  our  fellow- 
creatures  the  few  and  small  injuri(^s,  which  they  are 
able  to  do  us;  (when  perhaps  we  may  have  done 
many  things  to  provoke  them,  and  comparatively  can 
have  done  little  to  oblige  or  serve  them)  how  should 
we  ever  expect,  that  He  will  forgive  us  the  numerous 
and  heinous  offisnces,  which  we  have  committed 
against  Him;  from  whom  we  have  received  all  that 
we  have,  on  whom  we  depend  for  all  that  we  can 


a  Gal.  ii,  17, 


LECTURE  XXXII.  283 

hope  for,  to  whom    therefore  we  owe  the  most  unre- 
served duty,  and  tlie  most  aiFectionate  gratitude! 

Let  us  remember  then,  tliat  snice  we  pray  to  be 
forgiven,  only  as  we  forgive;  so  often  as  we  use  these 
words,  we  pray  in  elTect  for  God's  vengeance  upon 
ourselves,  instead  of  his  mercy,  if  we  forgive  not. 
And  therefore  let  us  apply  to  Ilim  continually  for 
grace  to  do  in  earnest,  what  we  profess  to  do  in  this 
petition;  let  us  carefully  examine  our  hearts  and  our 
conduct,  that  we  may  not  cheat  ourselves,  for  we  can- 
not cheat  God  with  false  pretences  of  observing  this 
duty,  while  indeed  we  transgress  it:  let  us  utterly 
'put  away  from  us  all  bitterness,  and  wrath,  and 
clamour,  and  evil-speaking,  with  all  malice;  and  be 
kind  one  to  another,  tender-hearted,  forgiving  one 
another;  even  as  we  hope,  that  God,  'for  Christ's 
sake,  will  forgive  us.'" 


LECTURE   XXXIII. 

And  lead  us  not  into  temptation,-  but  deliver  us  from 
evil:  for  thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and 
the  glory,  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen. 

We  should  be  very  unfit  to  ask  for  the  pardon  of 
our  past  sins:  and  could  neither  hope  to  obtain  it, 
nor  indeed  continue  long  the  better  for  it;  if  we  did 
not  earnestly  desire,  at  the  same  time,  to  avoid  sin 
for  the  future.  And  therefore,  after  the  petition, 
'  Forgive  us  our  trespasses,'  most  properly  follows, 
'  and  lead  us  not  into  temptation.' 

The  word  '  temptation'  very  often  signifies  no 
more,  than  trial;  any  opposition  or  difliculty,  that  may 
call  forth  our  virtues  into  vigorous  practice;  and,  hy 
so  doing,  both  strengthen  and  make  them  known:  not 
indeed  to  God,  who  always  knows  our  hearts;  but  to 
ourselves  and  others;  to  those  around  us  at  present, 

•  Epb.  It.  31,32. 


284  LECTURE   XXXIII. 

to  all  mankind,  and  the  holy  Angels  hereafter.  Now 
in  this  general  sense,  our  whole  life  on  earth  is,  and 
was  intended  to  be,  a  state  of  temptation:  in  which 
as  the  Scriptures  express  it,  God  himself  tempts, 
men;"  that  is,  proves  and  exercises  them.  And  ac- 
cordingl}^,  St.  James  directs  us  '  to  count  it  all  joy, 
when  we  fall  into  divers  temptations;'  adding  a  very 
good  reason  for  it;  'Blessed  is  the  man,  that  endureth 
temptation;  for  when  he  is  tried,  he  shall  receive  the 
crown  of  life;  which  the  Lord  hath  promised  to 
them  that  love  Him.'*  The  more  love  to  God  we 
thus  shew;  the  more  we  exert  our  inward  good  prin- 
ciples and  habits,  and  by  exerting,  improve  them; 
the  greater  reward  we  shall  obtain.  When  there- 
fore we  say  'Lead  us  not  into  temptation;'  we  do 
not  pra}'',  that  we  may  not  be  tried  at  all:  for  we 
know,  that  we  must,  even  for  our  own  good. 

But  the  word  here  stands  for  dangerous  trials,  pro- 
vocations and  enticements  to  sin;  under  which  we 
are  likely  to  sink,  instead  of  overcoming  them.  Now 
there  is  indeed  scarce  any  thing  in  life,  that  m>ay  not 
be  a  temptation  to  us,  in  this  bad  sense.  Our  tem- 
pers, our  ages,  our  stations  and  employments  in  the 
world,  be  they  ever  so  diiferent,  may,  each  in  their 
different  wajs,  risk  our  innocence.  They  that  are 
poor,  are  grievously  tempted,  either  to  repine  against 
God;  or  take  unlawful  methods  of  relieving  them- 
selves. And  '  they,  that  will  be  rich,'  experience,  as 
well  as  the  Apostle,  may  teach  us, '  fall  into  tempta- 
tion and  a  snare,  and  into  many  foolish  and  hurtful 
lusts.''^  Both  adversity  and  prosperitj',  business  and 
leisure,- company  and  solitude,  have  their  respective 
hazards.  And  sometimes  these  hazards  are  so  dread- 
fully heightened  by  particular  circumstances;  and, 
at  others,  trying  incidents,  totally  unforeseen,  happen 
so  unseasonable;  that  though  they  may  only  rouse 
and  animate  our  virtue;  yet  they  may  also,  more 
probably,  overbear  and  destroy  it.     And  therefore 

m  Gen.  ixvii  1.    Deut.  Iv.  34.    2  Chron.  xxxii.  31.         »  James  i.  2. 12. 
1  Tim.  vi.  9. 


LECTURE  xxxin.  285 

we  must  know  very  little  of  our  natural  frailty,  the 
strength  of  our  passions,  and  the  '  deceitfulncss  of 
sin;""  if  we  do  not  think  it  the  more  prudent,  as  well 
as  modcslcr  part,  to  declare,  than  venture  the  con- 
flict, if  it  be  God's  will:  and  do  not  accordingly  beg 
of  llim,  that  lie  would  '  not  lead  us  into  such  tempta- 
tion.' 

'  God,'  indeed,  '  tempts  no  man,"*  in  the  sense  of 
alluring  and  inviting  him  to  sin;  as  the  devil,  and 
wicked  people,  and  our  own  bad  hearts  do.  And 
therefore  to  pray,  in  this  sense,  that  he  would  'not 
lead  us  into  temptation,"  would  be  great  irreverence, 
instead  of  piety:  for  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  holi- 
ness of  his  nature,  that  lie  should.  But  as  nothing 
comes, to  pass,  but  with  his  knowledge  and  suflfcrance; 
and  every  thing  is  subject  to  his  direction  and  super- 
intendency;  the  Scripture  speaks,  as  if  every  thing 
was  done  by  Him,  when  the  meaning,  as  appears  by 
other  passages  of  it,  is  only  to  acknowledge,  that  no- 
thing is  done  without  llim;  and,  agreeably  to  the 
manner  of  speaking  in  the  eastern  countries,  things 
are  ascribed  to  llim,  which  He  only  permits,  and  af- 
terwards turns  to  the  furtherance  of  his  own  good 
purposes.  Now  God  may  very  justly  permit  us  to 
be  led  into  the  severest  temptations,  if  we  do  not 
pray  to  Him  against  it:  because  a  great  part  of  the 
danger  proceeds  from  that  weakness,  which  we  have 
willfully,  or  carelessly  brought  upon  ourselves;  and 
prayer  is  one  of  the  means,  that  lie  hath  appointed 
for  our  preservation  and  relief:  which  means  if  we 
use  as  we  ought,  'He  will  not  suffer  us  to  he  tempted 
above  that  we  are  able;  but  will,  with  the  tempta- 
tion, also  make  a  way  to  escape,  that  we  may  be  able 
to  bear  it.'"^ 

But  if,  through  pride  or  negligence,  we  will  not 
ask  for  his  help,  we  must  not  expect  it.  And  though 
we  do  for  form's  sake  ask  it,  if  we  have  little  faith 
in  it,  or  dependence  on  it,  St.  James  hath  foretold 

a  Ileb.  iiL  13.  6  James  i.  13-  •  1  Cor.  x.  13. 

A  A 


286  LECTURE  xxxiir. 

the  event:  '  Let  not  that  man  think  that  he  shall  re- 
ceive any  thing  of  the  Lord.'**  Yet  on  the  other 
hand,  if  we  carry  our  dependence  so  far,  as  presump- 
tuously to  run  into  those  dangers,  out  of  which  we 
beg  Him  to  keep  us;  or  at  least,  will  do  little  or  no- 
thing to  keep  ourselves  out  of  them,  instead  of  doing 
everything  that  we  can;  or  if  in  the  dangers,  in 
which  He  may  think  fit  to  place  us,  we  will  not  use 
our  best  endeavours  to  stand,  as  well  as  pray  that  we 
may  not  fall;  such  prayers  can  never  be  likely  to 
avail  for  our  protection.  But  fervent  devotion,  hear- 
ty resolution,  and  prudent  care,  united  and  continued, 
will  do  any  thing.  By  whatever  difficulties  we  are 
surrounded,  and  how  little  possibility  soever  we  may 
see  of  getting  through  them:  still  'commit  thy  way 
unto  the  Lord,  put  thy  trust  in  Him,  and  he  shall 
bring  it  to  pass.'^ 

In  the  second  part  of  this  petition,  'but  deliver  us 
from  evil;'  the  word  'evil'  may  signify,  either  sin  and 
its  consequences;  or  the  great  tempter  to  sin,  the 
'  evil'  or  '  wicked  one;'  for  by  that  name  the  devil  is 
often  called  in  the  New  Testament.'^  The  number 
indeed  of  wicked  spirits  is  probably  very  great:  but 
notwithstanding  this,  being  united  under  one  head, 
in  one  design  of  obstructing  our  salvation,  they  are 
all  comprehended  under  one  name.  And  since,  in 
our  present  state  of  trial,  we  have  not  only  as  expe- 
rience shews,  'Flesh  and  blood  to  wrestle  against;' 
our  own  bad  dispositions,  and  the  solicitations  of  a 
bad  world,  to  resist;  but  also,  as  the  word  of  God  in- 
forms us,  '  Principalities  and  powers,  and  spiritual 
wickedness  in  high  places,'"^  an  army  of  invisible  ene- 
mies, employing  to  overcome  us,  and  not  less  formi- 
dably because  imperceptibly,  all  the  stratagems,  that 
Heaven  allows  them  to  use;  this,  as  it  increases  our 
danger,  may  well  quicken  our  prayers  for  safety  and 
deliverance.  That  there  should  be  evil  angels,  as 
well  as  evil  men,  of  the  greatest  abilities  and  accom- 

a  James  i.  7.  i  Psalm  xxxvii.  5.  c  Matt,  xviii.  19,  38. 

1  John  ii;  13, 14.  iii.  12.  v.  18.  d  Epb.  vi.  11, 12. 


LECTURE    XXXIII.  287 

plishments,  is,  if  rightly  considered,  no  great  wonder: 
and  that  both  should  incite  us  to  sin,  is  no  reasonable 
discouragement:  for  let  us  but  apply  to  God,  and  we 
shall  not  be  left  in  the  power  of  either.  What  the 
power  of  wicked  spirits  is,  we  are  not  told  in  Scrip- 
ture, and  it  is  no  partof  religion, in  the  least, to  believe 
idle  stories  about  them.  Of  this  we  are  sure,  that 
they  have  no  power  but  what  God  permits,  and  He 
will  never  permit  them  to  do,  what  shall  prove  in  the 
end,  any  hurt  to  those,  who  serve  and  fear  Him. 
More  especially  we  are  sure,  that  they  cannot  in  the 
least,  cither  force  us  into  sinning,  or  hinder  us  from 
repenting.  Invite  or  dissuade  us  they  may,  by  sug- 
gesting false  notions  of  the  pleasure,  or  profit,  or 
harmlessness  of  sin,  by  representing  God,  as  too  good 
to  be  angry,  or  too  severe  to  be  reconciled:  by  de- 
scribing to  our  imaginations,  repentance  to  be  so  easy 
at  any  time,  that  it  is  needless  now:  or  so  difficult 
now,  that  it  is  too  late  and  impossible;  by  putting  it 
into  our  thoughts,  that  we  are  so  good,  we  may  be 
confident  and  careless;  or  so  wicked,  we  must  abso- 
lutely despair.  It  concerns  us  therefore  greatly,'  not 
to  be  ignorant  of  their  devices.'*^  But  provided  we 
keep  on  our  guard;  earnestly  apply  to  God,  and  are 
true  to  ourselves;  neither  their  temptations,  nor 
those  of  the  whole  world,  shall  prevail  against  us. 
For  then  only,  as  St.  James  gives  us  to  understand,  is 
'  every  man  tempted'  dangerously  '  when  he  is  drawn 
away  of  hisownlust,  andentinced.'*  The  enemy  with- 
in therefore  is  the  most  formidable  one;  and  against 
this  it  is  chiefly,  that  we  are  to  '  watch  and  pray,  that 
we  enter  not  into  temptation:'  remembering  always, 
that  how  willing  soever  the  spirit  may  be,  yet '  the 
flesh  is  weak.''= 

And  now  let  us  observe,  in  the  last  place,  under 
this  head,  that  as  we  are  to  pray  against  being  led 
into  temptation  ourselves,  we  should  be  very  careful, 
never  to  lead  others  into  it;  but  do  every  thing  that 

a  2  Cor.  ii,  II .  »  James  i.  14.  «  Matth.  sxwi. 41. 


288  LECTi/RE  xxxirr. 

we  can,  to  keep  them  out  of  it,  and  deliver  them  from 
it;  and  that,  as  begging  God's  help  that  we  may 
stand,  must  be  grounded  on  a  strong  sense  of  our 
proneness  to  fall:  we  should  shew  great  compassion 
towards  them,  who,  through  the  same  proneness,  have 
fallen.  '  Brethren,  if  a  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault; 
ye  which  are  spiritual,  restore  such  a  one  in  the 
spirit  of  meekness:  considering  thyself,  lest  thou  also 
be  tempted.''^ 

Thus  we  have  gone  through  the  six  petitions, 
which  compose  the  second  part  of  the  Lord's  prayer; 
and  shewn  it  to  be  worthy  of  its  Author,  by  distinct- 
ly comprehending,  in  so  little  room,  whatever  is  ne- 
cessary for  the  honour  of  God,  and  our  own  good, 
both  temporal  and  spiritual.  ^V^hat  remains  further, 
is,  to  speak  briefly  of  the  third  part,  which  concludes 
the  whole,  by  ascribing  to  our  heavenly  Father,  the 
praise  'due  unto  his  name:'*  acknowledging  here 
more  expressly,  what  indeed  hath  been  throughout 
implied,  that  His  is  the  kingdom,  the  rightful  author- 
ity and  supreme  dominion  over  all:  His  the  power, 
by  which  every  thing  just  and  good  is  brought  to  pass; 
His  therefore  the  glory  of  whatever  we  his  creatures 
do,  or  enjoy,  or  hope  for;  of  whatever  this  universe, 
and  the  whole  scheme  of  things  which  it  compre- 
hends, hath  had,  or  now  hath,  or  ever  shall  have  in 
it,  awful  or  gracious,  and  worthy  of  the  admiration 
of  men  and  angels.  And  as  all  dignity  and  might 
and  honours  are  His;  so  they  are  His  for  ever  and 
ever:  originally,  independently,  and  unchangeably. 
'From  everlasting  to  everlasting  He  is  God:''=  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day  and  for  CA'cr.'*^ 

These  words  then  are,  at  once,  an  act  of  homage 
to  his  greatness,  and  thanksgiving  to  his  goodness: 
both  which  ought  ever  to  have  a  place  in  our  prayers, 
and  the  conclusion  is  a  very  proper  place.  For  the 
infinite  perfections  of  God  our  Maker,  which  we  thus 
celebrate,  are  the  best  reason  possible  for  every  pe- 

a  Gal.  vi.  1.  i  Psalm  xxis,  2.  c  Psalm  xc.  2s 

«t  Heb.  ziii.  8. 


LECTURE  XXXIII.  ggg 

tition  that  we  have  offered  to  Him;  and  therefore 
our  blessed  Lord  introduces  them  as  the  reason.  '  For 
thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory.' 
Besides,  ending  with  these  acknowledgments  will 
leave  them  fresh  and  strong  upon  our  minds:  espe- 
cially as  we  finish  all  with  that  solemn  asseveration 
Amen;  which  is  a  word  used  in  Scripture,  only  upon 
serious  and  important  occasions,  to  confirm  the  truth 
and  sincerity  of  what  is  promised,  wished,  or  affirmed. 
It  relates  therefore  equally  to  the  whole  of  the  pray- 
er, and  is  in  effect  declaring,  t!iat  we  do  heartily  be- 
lieve whatever  we  have  said,  and  heartily  desire 
whatever  we  have  asked. 

This  expression  therclore  may  remind  us,  that  our 
prayers  should  always  be  composed,  both  in  such  a 
language,  and  in  such  words  in  that  language,  as  all 
that  are  to  use  or  join  in  them,  are  well  acquainted 
with.  For  else,  as  St.  Paul  argues,  'How  shall  he, 
that  occupieth  the  room  of  the  unlearned,  say,  Amen: 
seeing  he  understandeth  not  what  thou  sayest?''^ 

And  it  should  likewise  remind  us  very  strongly  of 
another  thing,  if  possible,  yet  more  important:  that 
•we  should  never  say  to  God,  what  we  cannot  say 
with  the  utmost  truth  of  heart.  Now  with  what 
truth,  or  what  face,  can  any  person,  that  lives  in  any 
sin  repeat  the  prayer  which  our  Lord  hath  taught  us, 
and  say  Amen  to  it;  when  every  sentence  in  it,  if 
well  considered,  is  inconsistent  with  a  bad  life?  Let 
us  therefore  consider  both  it  and  ourselves  very  care- 
fully, that  we  may  offer  up  our  devotions  always  in 
an  acceptable  manner.  For  *  the  sacrifice  of  the 
wicked  is  an  abomination  to  the  Lord:  but  the  pray- 
er of  the  upright  is  his  delight.'* 

a  1  Cor.  xiv.  16.  »  Tfr.  xt.  8- 

A.  A  2 


290 


LECTURE   XXX ir. 


LECTUPvE  XXXIV. 

The  nature  and  number  of  the  Sacraments. 

The  far  greatest  part  of  tlie  duties  which  we  owe 
to  God,  flow,  as  it  were,  of  tliemselves,  from  his  na- 
ture and  attributes,  and  the  several  relations  to  hin>, 
in  which  we  stand,  whether  made  known  to  us  by 
reason  or  Scripture.  Such  are  those,  which  have 
been  hitherto  explained  to  you:  the  ten  command- 
ments; and  prayer  for  the  grace,  which  our  fallen  con- 
dition requires,  in  order  to  keep  them.  But  there 
are  still  some  other  important  preempts  peculiar  to 
Christianity,  and  deriving  their  whole  obligation  from 
our  Saviour's  institution  of  them;  concerning  which 
it  is  highly  requisite  that  our  Catechism  should  in- 
struct us,  before  it  concludes.  And  these  are  the 
two  sacraments. 

The  word  Sacrament,  by  virtue  of  its  original  in 
the  Latin  tongue,  signifies  any  sacred  or  holy  thing 
or  action;  and  among  the  heathens  was  particularly 
applied  to  denote,  sometimes  a  pledge,  deposited  in  a 
sacred  place :°  sometimes  an  oath,  the  most  sacred  of 
obligations;  and  especially  that  oath  of  fidelity,  which 
the  soldiery  took  to  their  general.  In  scripture  it  is 
not  used  at  all.  By  the  early  writers  of  the  western 
church  it  was  used  to  express  almost  any  thing  rela- 
ting to  our  holy  religion:  at  least  any  thing  that  was 
figurative,  and  signified  somewhat  further  than  at 
first  sight  appeared.  But  afterwards  a  more  confin- 
ed use  of  the  word  prevailed  by  degrees;  and  in 
that  stricter  sense,  which  hath  long  been  the  com- 
mon one,  and  which  our  Catechism  follows,  the  na- 
ture of  a  sacrament  comprehends  the  following  par- 
ticulars: 

a  Eden  Elera.  Jur.  Civ.  p.  238.    Gronov.  in  Flaut.  Rud.  5. 3^  21 


LECTURE   XXXIV.  291 

1.  There  must  be  'an  outward  and  visible  sign;' 
the  solemn  application  of  some  bodily  and  sensible 
thing  or  action,  to  a  meaning  and  purpose  which  in 
its  own  nature  it  hath  not.  In  common  life,  we  have 
many  other  signs  to  express  our  meanings,  on  occa- 
sions of  great  consequence,  besides  words.  And  no 
wonder  then,  if  in  religion,  wc  have  some  of  the 
same  kind. 

2.  In  a  sacrament,  the  outward  and  visible  sign 
must  denote  '  an  inward  and  spiritual  grace  given  un- 
to us:'  that  is, some  favor  freely  bestowed  on  us  from 
heaven;  by  which  our  inward  and  spiritual  condi- 
tion, the  state  of  our  souls,  is  made  better.  JMost  of 
the  significative  actions,  that  wc  use  in  religion,  ex- 
press only  our  duty  to  God.  Thus  kneeling  in  pray- 
er is  used  to  shew  our  reverence  towards  him  to  whom 
we  pray.  And  signing  a  child  with  the  Cross,  after 
it  is  baptized, declares  our  obligation  not  to  be  asliam- 
ed  of  the  Cross  of  Christ.  But  a  sacrament,  besides 
expressing  on  our  part,  duty  to  God,  expresses,  on 
his  part,  some  grace  or  favor  towards  us. 

3.  In  order  to  entitle  any  thing  to  the  name  of  sa- 
crament, a  further  requisite  is,  that  it  be  '  ordained 
by  Christ  himself.'  We  may  indeed  use,  on  the  foot 
of  human  authority  alone,  actions,  that  set  forth 
either  our  sense  of  any  duty,  or  our  belief  in  God's 
grace.  For  it  is  certainly  as  lawful  to  express  a  good 
meaning  by  any  other  proper  sign  as  bywords.  But 
then,  such  marks  as  these,  which  we  commonl}'  call 
ceremonies,  as  they  are  taken  up  at  pleasure,  may  be 
laid  aside  again  at  pleasure;  and  ought  to  be  laid 
aside,  whenever  they  grow  too  numerous,  or  abuses 
are  made  of  them,  which  cannot  easily  be  reformed; 
and  this  hath  frequently  been  the  case.  But  sacra- 
ments are  of  perpetual  obligation:  for  they  stand  on 
tlie  authority  of  Christ,  who  hath  certainly  appoint- 
ed nothing  to  be  for  ever  observed  in  his  church,  but 
what  he  saw  would  be  forever  useful.  Nor  doth  every 
appointment  of  Christ,  though  it  be  of  perpetual  ob- 


292  LECTURE   XXXIV. 

ligation,  deserve  the  nameof  a  sacrament:  but  those? 
and  no  other,  wliich  are, 

4.  Not  only  signs  of  grace,  but  means,  also 'where- 
by we  receive  the  same.'  None  but  our  blessed  Lord 
could  appoint  such  means;  and  which  of  his  ordi- 
nances should  be  such,  and  which  not,  none  but  him- 
self could  determine.  From  his  word  therefore  we 
are  to  learn  it;  and  then,  as  we  hope  to  attain  the 
end,  we  must  use  the  means.  But  when  it  is  said, 
that  the  sacraments  are  means  of  grace,  we  are  not 
to  understand,  either  that  the  performance  of  the 
mere  outward  action  doth,  by  its  own  virtue,  produce 
a  spiritual  effect  in  us;  or  that  God  hath  annexed 
any  such  effect  to  that  alone:  but  that  he  will  ac- 
company the  action  with  his  blessing,  provided  it  be 
done  as  it  ought;  with  those  qualitications  which  he 
requires.  And  therefore,  unless  we  fulfil  the  condi- 
tion, we  must  not  expect  the  benefit. 

Further;  calling  the  sacraments  means  of  grace, 
doth  not  signify  them  to  be  means  by  which  we  merit 
grace;  for  nothing  but  the  sufferings  of  our  blessed 
Saviour  can  do  that  for  us;  but  means,  by  which  what 
he  hath  merited  is  conveyed  to  us. 

Nor  yet  are  they  the  only  means  of  conveying 
grace:  for  reading, and  hearing,  and  meditating  up- 
on the  word  of  God,  are  part  of  the  things  which  he 
hath  appointed  for  this  end:  and  prayer  is  another 
part,  accompanied  with  an  express  promise,  that,  if 
we  '  ask,  we  shall  receive.'"  But  these,  not  being  such 
actions  as  figure  out  and  represent  the  benefits  which 
they  derive  to  us,  thoughihey  are  means  of  grace,  are 
not  signs  of  it;  and  therefore  do  not  come  under  the 
notion  of  sacraments.     But, 

5.  A  sacrament  is  not  only  a  sign  or  representation 
of  some  heavenly  favor,  and  a  means  whereby  we 
receive  it,  but  also  '  a  pledge  to  assure  us  thereof.' 
Not  that  any  thing  can  give  us  a  greater  assurance, 
in  point  of  reason,  of  any  blessing  from  God,  thau 

•  Joiut  zTi.  24 


•  LliCTURE    XXXIV.  293 

his  bare  promise  can  do:  but  that  such  observances, 
appointed  in  token  of  his  promises,  affect  our  imagi- 
nations with  a  stronger  sense  of  tlicm,  and  make  a 
deeper  and  more  lasting  and  therefore  more  useful, 
impression  on  our  minds.  For  this  cause,  in  all  na- 
tions of  the  world,  representations  by  actions  have 
ever  been  used,  as  well  as  words,  upon  solemn  occa- 
sions: especially  upon  entering  into  and  renewing 
treaties  and  covenants  with  each  other.  And  there- 
fore, in  condescension  to  a  practice,  whicli,  being  so 
universal  among  men,  appears  to  be  founded  in  the 
nature  of  man:  God  hath  ginciously  added  to  his 
Covenant  also,  the  solemnity  of  certain  outward  in- 
structive performances;  by  which  he  declares  to  us, 
that  as  surely  as  our  bodies  are  washed  by  water,  and 
nourished  by  bread  broken,  and  wine  poured  fourth 
and  received;  so  surely  are  our  souls  purified  from 
sin  by  the  baptism  of  repentance;  and  strengthened 
in  all  goodness,  by  partaking  of  tiiat  mercy,  which 
the  wounding  of  the  body  of  Christ,  and  the  shed- 
ding of  his  blood,  hath  obtained  for  us.  And  thus 
these  religious  actions,  so  far  as  they  are  performed 
by  God's  minister,  in  pursuance  of  his  appointment, 
are  an  earnest  and  pledge  on  his  part,  wliich  (as  I 
observed  to  you)  was  one  ancient  signification  of  the 
word  Sacrament:  and  so  far  as  we  join  in  them,  they 
are  an  obligation,  binding  like  an  oath,  on  our  part, 
as  shall  be  hereafter  shewn  you:  which  was  the  other 
primitive  meaning  of  the  word. 

Having  thus  explained  to  you  the  description  of  a 
Sacrament,  given  in  the  Catechism;  let  us  now  con- 
sider, what  things  we  have  in  o'lr  religion  that  an- 
swer to  it.  For  the  Papists  reckon  no  less  than  sev- 
en Sacraments.  And  though  tliis  number  was  not 
named  for  above  1000  years  after  Christ;  nor  fixed 
by  the  authority  of  even  their  own  church,  till  200 
years  ago,  that  is,  since  the  reformation;  yet  now 
they  accuse  us,  for  not  agreeing  with  them  in  it,  but 
acknowledging  only  two. 

The  first  of  their  five  is  Confirmation.     And  if 


294  LECTURE    XXXIV* 

this  be  a  Sacrament,  we  administer  it  as  well  as  they, 
indeed  much  more  agreeably  to  the  original  practice; 
and  are  therefore  entitled,  at  least,  to  tlie  same  bene- 
tit  from  it.  But  though  Christ  did  indeed  'put  his 
hands  on  children  and  bless  them;'"  yet  we  do  not 
read  that  he  appointed  this  particular  ceremony  for 
a  means  of  conveying  grace.  And  though  the  apos- 
tles did  use  it  after  him,  as  others  had  done  before 
him;  yet  there  is  no  foundation  to  ascribe  any  sepa- 
rate efficacy  to  the  laying  on  of  hands,  as  distinct 
from  the  prayers  that  accompany  it:  or  to  look  upon 
the  whole  of  confirmation  as  any  thing  else,  than  a 
solemn  manner  of  persons  taking  upon  themselves 
their  baptismal  vow,  followed  by  the  solemn  addresses 
of  the  bishop  and  the  congregation,  that  they  may 
ever  keep  it:  in  which  addresses,  lading  on  of  hands 
is  used,  partly  as  a  mark  of  good  will  to  the  person 
for  whom  the  prayers  are  ofTered  up;  and  partly  also  as 
a  sign,  that  the  fatherly  hand  of  God  is  over  all  who 
undertake  to  serve  him:  yet  without  any  claim  of 
conveying  his  grace  particularly  by  it:  but  only  with 
intention  of  praying  for  his  grace  along  with  it: 
which  prayers  however  we  have  so  just  ground  to 
hope  he  will  hear,  that  they  who  neglect  this  ordi- 
nance, though  not  a  Sacrament,  are  greatly  wanting 
both  to  their  interest  and  their  duty. 

Another  Sacrament  of  the  church  of  Rome  is  Pen- 
ance: which  they  make  to  consist  of  particular  con- 
fession to  the  priest  of  every  deadly  sin,  particular 
absolution  from  him,  and  such  acts  of  devotion,  mor- 
tification, or  charity,  as  he  shall  think  fit  to  enjoin. 
But  no  one  part  of  this  being  required  in  Scripture, 
much  less  any  outward  sign  of  it  appointed,  or  any 
inward  grace  annexed  to  it;  there  is  nothing  in  the 
whole  that  hath  any  appearance  of  a  Sacrament;  but 
too  much  suspicion  of  a  contrivance  to  gain  an  undue 
influence  and  power. 

A  third  Sacrament  of  theirs  is,  extreme  Unction. 

c  Mark  x.  16- 


LECTURE   XXXIV. 


295 


But  their  plea  for  it  is  no  more  than  this:  St.  James, 
at  a  time  when  miraculous  gifts  were  common,  direc- 
ted '  the  elders  of  the  church,'  who  usually  had  those 
gifts, '  to  anoint  the  sick  with  oil:'"  as  we  read  the 
disciples  did,  whilst  our  Saviour  was  on  earth;*  in  or- 
der to  obtain  by  the  '  prayer  of  faith,  (that  faith 
which  could  remove  mountains*)'^  the  recovery,  if 
God  saw  lit,  of  their  bodily  health;  and  the  forgive- 
ness of  those  sins  for  which  their  disease  was  inflict- 
ed, if  they  had  committed  any  such.  And  upon  this, 
the  church  of  Rome,  now  all  such  miraculous  gifts 
are  ceased,  continues  notwithstanding  to  anoint  the 
sick,  for  a  quite  ditTerent  purpose:  not  at  all  for  the 
recovery  of  their  health;  for  they  do  not  use  it  till 
they  think  them  very  nearly,  if  not  quite,  past  recov- 
ery; nor  indeed  for  the  pardon  of  their  sins;  for  these, 
they  say,  are  pardoned  upon  confession,  which  com- 
monly is  made  before  it;  but  chieflj',  as  themselves 
own,  to  procure  composedness  and  courage  in  the 
hour  of  death:  a  purpose  not  only  unmentioned  by 
St.  James,  but  inconsistent  with  the  purpose  of  re- 
covery, which  he  doth  mention,  and  very  often  im- 
possible to  be  attained.  For  they  frequently  anoint 
persons  after  they  arc  become  entirely  senseless.  And 
yet,  in  spite  of  all  these  things,  they  will  needs  have 
this  practice  owned  for  a  Sacrament:  which  indeed 
is  now,  as  they  manage  it,  a  mere  piece  of  supersti- 
tion. 

Another  thing,  which  they  esteem  a  christian  Sa- 
crament, is  Matrimony:  though  it  was  ordained,  not 
by  Christ,  but  long  before  his  appearance  on  earth, 
in  the  time  of  man's  innocency;  and  hath  no  out- 
ward sign  appointed  in  it,  as  a  means  and  pledge  of 
inward  grace.  But  the  whole  matter  is,  that  they 
have  happened  most  ridiculously  to  mistake  their 
own  Latin  translation  of  the  New  Testament;  where 
St.  Paul,  having  compared  the  union  between  the 
lirst  married  pair,  Adam  and  Eve,  to  that  between 

a  Jam.  V.  14, 15.  6  Markvi.  13.  c  Matth.  xvii.  20.  xxi.21. 

Mark  xi.  23. 


296  LECTURE  XXXIV. 

Christ,  the  second  Adam,  and  his  spouse  the  Church; 
and  having  said  that  '  this  is  a  great  mystery  f"  a  lig- 
ure,  or  comparison,  not  fully  and  commonly  under- 
stood: the  old  interpreter,  whose  version  they  use, 
for 'Mystery'  hath  put  'Sacrament:'  which  in  his 
days,  as  I  said  before,  signified  any  thing  in  religion 
that  carried  a  hidden  meaning:  and  they  have  un- 
derstood him  of  what  we  now  call  a  Sacrament. — 
Whereas  if  every  thing,  that  once  had  that  name  in 
the  larger  sense  of  the  word,  were  at  present  to 
have  it  in  the  stricter  sense;  there  would  be  an  hun- 
dred Sacraments,  instead  of  the  seven,  which  they 
pretend  there  arc. 

The  fifth  and  last  thing,  which  they  wrongly  insist 
on  our  honoring  with  this  title,  is  holy  orders.  But 
as  there  are  three  orders  in  the  church,  bishops, 
priests,  and  deacons;  here  would  be  three  Sacra- 
ments, if  there  were  any,  but  indeed  there  is  none. 
For  the  laying  on  of  hands  in  ordination  is  neither 
appointed,  nor  used,  to  convey  or  signify  any  spiritu- 
al grace;  but  only  to  confer  a  right  of  executing  such 
an  oflSce  in  the  church  of  Christ.  And  though  pray- 
ers, for  God's  grace  and  blessing  on  the  person  or- 
dained, are  indeed  very  justly  and  usefully  added; 
and  will  certainly  be  heard,  unless  the  person  be  un- 
worthy; yet  these  prayers,  on  this  occasion,  no  more 
make  what  is  done  a  Sacrament,  than  any  other 
prayers  for  God's  grace  on  any  other  occasion. 

However,  as  I  have  already  said  of  Confirmation, 
so  I  say  now  of  Orders  and  Marriage,  if  they  were 
Sacraments,  they  would  be  as  much  so  to  us,  as  to 
the  Romanists,  whether  we  called  them  Sacraments 
or  not.  And  if  we  used  the  name  everso  erroneous- 
ly, indeed  if  we  never  used  it  at  all;  as  the  Scripture 
hath  never  used  it:  that  could  do  us  no  harm;  provid- 
ed,''under  any  name,  wc  believe  but  the  things  which 
Christ  hath  taught;  and  do  but  the  things  which 
he  hath  commanded:  for  on  this,  and  this  alone,  de- 
pends our  acceptance,  and  eternal  salvation. 

o  Eph.  V.  32. 


LECTURE   XXSV.  297 


LECTURE  XXXV. 

Of  Baptism. 

Having  already  explained  to  you  the  nature  of  a 
Sacrament;  and  shewn  you,  that  five  of  the  seven 
things  which  the  church  of  Rome  calls  hy  that  name, 
are  not  entitled  to  it;  there  remain  only  two,  that 
are  truly  such:  and  these  two  are  plainly  sufficient: 
one  for  our  entrance  into  the  christian  covenant;  the 
other,  during  our  whole  continuance  in  it;  'Baptism 
and  the  Supper  of  the  Lord.'  However,  as  the  word 
Sacrament  is  not  a  scripture  one,  and  hath  at  differ- 
enttimes  been  differently  understood:  our  Catechism 
doth  not  require  it  to  be  said  absolutely,  that  the  Sa- 
craments, arc  two  only;  but  'two  only,  as  necessary 
to  salvation:'  leaving  persons  at  libcrtj'^  to  compre- 
hend more  things  under  the  name,  if  they  please, 
provided  they  insist  not  on  the  necessity  of  them, 
and  of  dignifying  them  with  this  title.  And  even 
these  two,  our  church  very  charitably  teaches  us  not 
to  look  upon  as  indispensably,  but  as  generally  ne- 
cessary. Out  of  which  general  necessity,  we  are  to 
except  those  particular  cases,  where  believers  in 
Christ,  either  have  not  the  means  of  performing  their 
duty  in  respect  to  the  Sacraments,  or  are  innocently 
ignorant  of  it,  or  even  excusably  mistaken  about  it. 

In  explaining  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism,  I  shall 
speak,  first  of  the  'outward  and  visible  sign,'  then  of 
'  the  inward  and  spiritual  grace.' 

As  to  the  former:  Baptism  being  intended  for  the 
sign  and  means  of  our  purification  from  sin;  water, 
the  proper  element  for  purifying  and  cleansing,  is  ap- 
pointed to  be  used  in  it.  There  is  indeed  a  sect, 
sprung  up  amongst  us  within  a  little  more  than  a 
hundred  years,  that  deny  this  appointment:  and 
BB 


298  LECTURE   XXXV. 

make  the  christian  Baptism  signify  only  the  pouring 
out  of  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  a  person.  But 
our  Saviour  expressly  requires  that  we  be  'born  of 
water,'  as  well  as  '  of  the  spirit,  to  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God.'°  And  not  only  John,  his  forerun- 
ner, 'Baptized  with  water,'*  but  his  disciples  also, 
by  his  direction,  Baptized  in  the  same  manner,  even 
'more  than  John. '*=  When  therefore  He  bade  them 
afterwards'  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them;''^  what 
Baptism  could  they  understand,  but  that,  in  which  he 
had  employed  them  before?  And  accordingly,  we  find 
they  did  understand  that.  Philip,  we  read.  Baptized 
the  Samaritans:'  not  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  the 
apostles  went  down  some  time  after  to  do  that  them- 
selves-/ but  with  water  undoubtedly,  as  we  find,  in 
the  same  chapter,  he  did  the  Eunuch;  where  the 
words  are,  'here  is  water:  what  doth  hinder  me  to 
be  Baptized?  And  they  went  down  to  the  water:  and 
he  Baptized  him. '^  Again,  after  Cornelius,  and  his 
friends,  had  received  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  so  were 
already  Baptized  in  that  sense,  Peter  asks,  '  can  any 
man  forbid  water  that  these  should  not  be  Baptised, 
which  have  received  the  Holy  Ghost  as  well  as  we?'* 
When  therefore  John  says,  that  'he  Baptized  with 
water,  but  Christ  should  Baptize  with  the  Holy 
Ghost;'*  he  means,  not  that  christians  should  not  be 
Baptized  with  water,  but  that  they  should  have  the 
Holy  Ghost  poured  out  upon  them  also,  in  a  degree 
that  John's  disciples  had  not.  When  St.  Petersays, 
'the  Baptism,  which  saveth  us,  is  not  the  washing 
away  the  filth  of  the  flesh;'-?  he  means,  it  is  not  the 
mere  outward  act,  unaccompanied  by  a  suitable  in- 
ward disposition.  When  St.  Paul  says,  that  'Christ 
sent  him  not  to  Baptize,  but  to  preach  the  gospel;'* 
he  means,  that  preaching  was  the  principal  thing  he 
was  to  do  In  person:  to  baptize,  he  might  appoint 
others  under  him:  and   it  seems,  commonly  did:  as 

a  John  iii.  5.       b  Matth.  m.  11.       e  John  iv.  1,  2.       d  Matth.MviiL  19. 
e  Acts  viii.  12.    /  Verse  14,  S;c.      g  Verse  36,  38.       h  Acts  x.  47. 
iMatlU.iii.il.   /  1  Pet.  iii. 21.       ilCor.  j.l7. 


LECTURE    XXXV.  299 

St.  Peter  did  not  Baptize  Cornelius  and  his  friends 
himself,  but  'commanded  them  to  be  Baptized:'"  and 
we  read  in  St.  John,  that  'Jesus  Baptized  not,  but 
his  disciples.** 

Water  Baptism  therefore  is  appointed.  And  why 
the  church  of  Rome  should  not  think  watersufficient 
in  Baptism,  but  aiming  at  mending  what  our  Saviour 
hath  directed,  by  mixing  oil  and  balsam  with  it,  and 
dipping  a  lighted  torch  into  it,  I  leave  them  to  ex- 
plain. * 

The  precise  manner  in  which  water  shall  be  ap- 
plied in  Baptism,  Scripture  hath  not  determined' — 
For  the  word,  Baptize,  means  only  to  wash;  whether 
that  be  done  by  plunging  a  thing  under  water,  or 
pouring  the  water  upon  it.  The  former  of  these; 
burying  as  it  were,  the  person  Baptized,  in  the  water, 
and  raising  him  out  of  it  again,  without  question 
was  anciently  the  more  usual  method:  on  account  of 
which,  St.  Paul  speaks  of  Baptism,  as  representing 
both  the  death,  and  burial,  and  resurrection  of  Christ, 
and  what  is  grounded  on  them,  our  being  '  dead  and 
buried  to  sin;'  renouncing  it,  and  being  acquitted  of 
it;  andour  risingagain,  to' walk  in  newness  of  life;'* 
being  both  obliged  and  enabled  to  practice  for  the 
future,  every  duty  of  piety  and  virtue.  But  still  the 
other  manner  of  washing,  by  pouring  or  sprinkling  of 
w^ater,  sufficiently  expresses  tlie  same  two  things:  our 
being  by  this  ordinance  puritied  from  the  guilt  of  sin, 
and  bound  and  qualified  to  keep  ourselves  pure  from 
the  defilement  of  it.  Besides,  it  very  naturally  rep- 
resents that '  sprinkling  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,''' 
to  which  our  salvation  is  owing.  And  the  use  of  it 
seems  not  only  to  be  foretold  by  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
speaking  of  our  Saviour, 'He  shall  sprinkle  many 
nations,'^  that  is,  many  shall  receive  his  baptism;  and 
by  the  prophet  Ezekiel,  'then  will  I  sprinkle  clean 
water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean  :'-^  but  to  be 
had  in  view  also  by  the   apostle,  where  he  speaks  of 

a  Acts  X.  48.  b  John  iv.  2  e  Rom.  vi.  4,  11.     Col.  ii.  12. 

i  1  ret,  i,  2.      -     «  Isaiah  lii.  15.      /  Ezek,  xxxvi.  25. 


300  LECTURE   XXXV. 

'having  our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience, 
and  our  bodies  waslied  with  pure  water.'"  And  though 
it  was  less  frequently  used  in  the  first  ages,  it  must 
almost  of  necessity  have  been  sometimes  used:  for 
instance,  when  baptism  was  administered,  as  we  read 
in  the  Acts,  it  was,  to  several  thousands  at  once;* 
when  it  was  administered  on  a  sudden  in  private 
houses,  as  we  find  it,  in  the  same  book,  to  the  gaoler 
and  all  his  family  the  very  night  in  which  they  were 
converted :"  or  when  sick  persons  received  it ;  in  which 
last  case,  the  present  method  was  always  taken,  be- 
cause the  other,  of  dipping  them,  might  have  been 
dangerous.  And  from  the  same  apprehension  of  dan- 
ger in  these  colder  countries,  pouring  the  water  is 
allowed,  even  when  the  person  baptized  is  in  health. 
And  the  particular  manner  being  left  at  liberty,  that 
is  now  universally  chosen,  which  is  looked  on  as  safer: 
because  were  there  more  to  be  said  for  the  other 
than  there  is;  God  '  will  have  mercy,  and  not  sacri- 
fice.''^ 

But  washing  with  water  is  not  the  whole  outward 
part  of  this  Sacrament.  For  our  Saviour  command- 
ed his  apostles,  not  only  to  '  baptize  all  nations,'  but 
to  '  baptize  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.'  ^  Sometimes  indeed 
the  Scripture  speaks  of  Baptism,  as  if  it  were  ad- 
ministered only  'in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.'-'' 
But  it  fully  appears,^  that  the  name  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  was  used  at  the  same  time;  and  therefore  that 
of  the  Father,  we  may  be  sure.  Now  being  baptized 
*  in  the  name'  of  these  three,  may  signify,  being  bap- 
tized by  virtue  of  their  authority.  But  the  exacter 
translation  is,  'into  the  name:' and  the  fuller  import 
of  the  expression  is,  by  this  solemn  action  taking 
upon  us  their  name;  (for  servants  are  known  by  the 
name  of  their  master)  and  professing  ourselves  devo- 
ted to  the  faith,  and  worship,  and  obedience  of  these 

a  Ileb.  X.  22.  i  Acts  ii.  41.  c  Acts  svi.33. 

d  Hos.  vi.  6.  Malth.  ix.  13.  xii.  7.  e  Matth.  xxviii.  19, 

/Acts  ii.  38.  X.  48,  xix.  5=  g  Acts  xix>  ?,  3*. 


LECTURE    XXXV.  301 

three;  our  Creator,  our  Redeemer,  our  Sanctifier. — 
In  this  profession  the  whole  of  Christianity  is  briefly 
comprehended,  and  on  this  foundation  therefore  the 
ancient  Creeds  arc  all  built. 

The  second  and  principal  thing  in  Baptism,  '  the 
inward  and  spiritual  grace,'  is  said  in  the  Catechism 
to  be,  'a  death  unto  sin,  and  a  new   birth  unto  right- 
eousness;  for  that    being  by  nature   born  in  sin,  and 
the  children  of  wrath,  we  are  hereby  made  the    chil- 
dren of  grace.'     The  former  part  of  these  words  re- 
fers to  the  old  custom  of  baptizing  by  dipping,  just 
now  mentioned :  and  the  meaning  of  the  whole  is  this : 
our  first  parents  having  by  disobedience  in  eating  the 
forbidden  fruit,  corrupted  their  own   nature;    ours, 
being   derived  from  them,   received  of  necessity  an 
original  taint  of  the  same   disorder:    and    therefore 
coming  into  the  world,  under  the  ill  effects  of  their 
sin:  and  being  from  the  time  of  our  entering  into  it, 
prone  to  sin  ourselves:  we  are  said  to  be  '  born  in  sin.' 
And  they  having  also,  by  the  same  disobedience,  for- 
feited theirimmortality:  we, as  descended  from  them, 
became  mortal  of  course:   and  inheriting  by  way  of 
natural  consequence,  what  they  suffered  as  a  mark  of 
God's  wrath;  we,  their  children,  are  said  to  be 'chil- 
dren of  w^rath.'       Not  that  God,  with  whatever  dis- 
approbation he  must  view   our  native  depravity,  is, 
or,  properly  speaking,  can  be,  angry  with  us  person- 
ally, for  what  was  not  our  personal  fault.      But  he 
miglit  undoubtedly   both  refuse  us   that  immortality, 
which  our  first   parents  had  forfeited,  and  to  which 
we  have  no  right;  and  leave  us  without  help,  to  the 
poor  degree  of  strength,  that  remained   to   us  in  our 
fallen  condition;  the  effect  of  which  must  have  been 
that  had  we  done  our  best,  as  we  were  entitled  to  no 
reward  from  his  justice,  so  it  had    been    such  a  no- 
thing, that  we  could  have  hoped  for  little,  if  any,  from 
his  bounty;  and  had  we  not  done  our  best,  as  no  man 
hath,  we  had  no   assurance,  that  even   repentance 
would  secure  us  from  punishment.     But  what  in  strict 
justice  he  might  have  done,  in  his  infinite  goodness 
B  b2 


302  LECTURE    XXXV. 

he  hath  not  done.  For  the  first  covenant  being  bro- 
ken by  Adam,  he  hath  entered  into  a  new  one  with 
mankind,  through  Jesus  Christ:  in  which  he  hatli 
promised  to  free  us,  both  from  the  mortality,  which 
our  first  parents  had  brought  upon  us,  by  restoring  us 
to  Ufe  again;  and  from  the  inabihty,  by  the  power- 
ful assistance  of  his  holy  spirit.  Nay,  further  yet, 
he  hath  promised,  (and  without  it  the  rest  would  have 
been  of  small  use)  that  should  we,  notwithstanding 
his  assistance,  fail  in  our  duty,  when  we  might  have 
performed  it;  as  we  have  all  failed,  and  made  our- 
selves, by  that  means,  'children  of  wrath,'  in  the 
strictest  and  worst  sense:  yet,  on  most  equitable  terms, 
he  would  still  receive  us  to  mercy  anew,  and  thus  the 
christian  covenant,  delivering  us,  if  we  arc  faithful 
to  it,  from  every  thing  we  had  to  fear,  and  bestowing 
on  us  every  thing  we  could  hope,  brings  us  into  a 
state  so  unspeakably  different  from  our  former;  that 
it  is  justly  expressed  by  being  dead  to  that  and  born 
into  another.  And  this  new  birth  being  effected  by 
the  grace  or  goodness  of  God  external  and  internal, 
we,  the  children  of  it,  are  properly  called  '  the  chil- 
dren of  grace.  Now  Baptism  is  not  only  a  sign  of 
this  grace:  (as  indeed  it  signifies  very  naturally  the 
washing  off  both  of  our  original  corruption,  and  our 
actual  guilt)  by  the  appointed  way  of  entering  into 
the  covenant  that  entitles  us  to  such  grace;  but  the 
'  means  whereby  we  receive  the  same,  and  a  pledge 
to  assure  us  thereof.' 

Indeed  (he  mere  outward  act  of  being  baptized  is, 
as  St.  Peter,  in  the  %vords  already  mentioned,  very 
truly  expresses  it,  the  mere  'putting  away  of  the 
filth  of  the  flesh;'  unless  it  be  made  effectual  to  save 
us,  as  he  teaches  in  the  same  place  it  must,  by  the 
'  answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God;'"  that  is, 
by  the  sincere  stipulation  and  engagement  of 're- 
pentance, whereby  v/e  forsake  sin;  and  faith,  where- 
by we  believe  the  promises  of  God  made  to  us  in  that 

al  Pet.  iii.  21. 


LECTURE   XXXV.  303 

Sacrament.'  For  it  is  impossible  that  he  should  for- 
give our  past  sins,  unless  we  are  sorry  for  Ihcm,  and 
resolved  to  (juit  thcni;  and  it  is  as  impossible  tliat 
we  should  quit  them  cfFectually,  unless  a  firm  persua- 
sion of  iiis  helping  and  rewarding  us,  excite  and  sup- 
port our  endeavors.  These  two  things  therefore  we 
see  our  Catechism  justly  mentions  as  necessary,  in 
answer  to  the  question,  '  Wliat  is  required  of  per- 
sons to  be  baptized?'  Both  having  been  explained  in 
their  proper  place,  and  therefore  1  enlarge  on  neither 
here. 

But  hence  arises  immediately  another  question:  if 
these  conditions  are  necessary, '  why  are  infants  bap- 
tized when  by  reason  of  their  tender  age  they  cannot 
perform  them?'  And  as  this  difficulty  appears  to 
some  a  great  one,  I  shall  give  a  fuller  solution  of  it 
than  the  shortness  of  a  Catechism  would  easily  per- 
mit. Repentance  and  faith  are  requisite,  not  be/'ore 
they  are  possible,  but  when  they  are  possible.  Re- 
pentance is  what  infants  need  not  as  yet,  being  clear 
of  personal  guilt:  and  happy  would  it  be,  were  they 
never  to  need  it.  Faith,  it  may  be  reasonably  pre- 
sumed, by  the  security  given  for  their  christian  edu- 
cation, they  will  have,  as  soon  as  they  have  occasion 
to  exert  it.  And  in  the  mean  time.  Baptism  may 
very  filly  be  administered:  because  God,  on  his  part, 
can  certainly  express  by  it,  both  his  removing  at  pre- 
sent the  disadvantages  which  tb-cy  lie  under  by  the 
sin  of  Adam:  and  his  removing  hereafter,  on  proper 
conditions,-  the  disadvantages  which  they  may  come 
to  lie  under  by  their  own  sins.  And  though  they 
cannot,  on  their  parts,  expressly  promise  to  perform 
these  conditions;  yet  they  are  not  only  bound  to  per- 
form them,  whether  they  promise  it  or  not:  but 
(which  is  the  point  that  our  Catechism  insists  on)  their 
sureties  promise  for  them,  that  they  shall  be  made 
sensible,  as  soon  as  may  be,  that  they  are  so  bound; 
and  ratify  the  engagement  in  their  own  persons: 
which  when  they  do,  it  then  becomes  complete.  For 
it  is  by  no  means  necessary,  that  a  covenant  should 


S04  LECTURE     XXXV. 

be  executed  by  both  the  parties  to  it,  at  just  the  same 
time:  and  as  the  christian  covenant  is  one  of  the 
greatest  equity  and  favour,  we  cannot  '  doubt',  to 
speak  in  the  language  of  our  Liturgy, '  but  that  God 
favorably  alloweth  the  charitable  work  of  bringing 
infants  to  his  holy  baptism.'  For  the  promise  of  the 
covenant  being  expressly  said  to  belong  '  to  us  and 
to  our  children,'*^  without  any  limitation  of  age;  why 
should  they  not  all,  since  they  are  to  partake  of  the 
promise,  partake  also  of  the  sign  of  it?  especially 
since  the  infants  of  the  Jews  were,  by  a  solemn  sign, 
entered  into  their  covenant:  and  the  infants  of  prose- 
lytes to  the  Jews,  by  this  very  sign,  amongst  others 
of  baptism.  So  that  supposing  the  Apostles  to  imi- 
tate either  of  these  examples,  as  they  naturally  would 
unless  tiiey  were  forbid,  which  tliey  were  not;  when 
they  baptized  (as  the  Scripture,  without  making  any 
exception,  tells  us  they  did)  whole  families  at  once;  * 
we  cannot  question  but  they  baptized  (as  we  know 
the  primitive  christians,  their  successors,  did)  little 
children  amongst  the  rest;  concerning  whom  our  Sa- 
viour says,  that  '  of  such  is  the  kirigdom  of  God,'  * 
and  St.  Paul  says, '  they  are  holy;''^  which  they  can- 
not be  reputed,  without  entering  into  the  gospel  cov- 
enant: and  the  only  appointed  way  of  entering  into 
it  is  by  baptism:  which  therefore  is  constantly  re- 
presented in  the  New  Testament  as  necessary  to  sal- 
vation. 

Not  that  such  converts,  in  ancient  times,  as  were 
put  to  death  for  their  faith,  before  they  could  be 
baptized,  lost  their  reward  for  want  of  it.  Not  that 
.such  cliildren  of  believers  now  as  die  unbaptized  by 
sudden  ilhiess,  or  unexpected  accidents,  or  even  by 
neglect,  (since  it  is  none  of  their  own  neglect)  shall 
forlbit  the  advantages  of  baptism.  This  would  be 
very  contrary  to  that  mercy  and  grace,  which 
abounds  through  the  whole  of  the  gospel  dispensa 
tion.     Nay,  where   the   persons   themselves  do   de- 

a  Acts  ii.  39.  i  Act*  xvi.  15,  33.  «  Mark  x.  14. 

d  1  Cor.  vii.  14. 


LECTURE  XXXV.  305 

signedly,  through  mistaken  notions,  either  delay  their 
baptism,  as  the  Anabaptists;  or  omit  it  entirely,  as 
the  Quakers,  even  of  these  it  belongs  to  christian 
charity  not  to  judge  hardly,  as  excluded  from  the 
gospel  covenant,  if  they  die  unbaptized;  but  to  leave 
them  to  the  equitable  judgment  of  God.  Both  of 
them  indeed  err:  and  the  latter  especially  have,  one 
should  think,  as  little  excuse  for  their  error  as  well 
can  be:  for  surely  there  is  no  duty  of  cbristianity 
which  stands  on  a  plainer  foundation,  than  that  of 
baptizing  with  water  in  the  name  of  the  holy  trinity. 
But  still,  since  they  solemnly  declare,  that  they  be- 
lieve in  Christ,  and  desire  to  obey  his  commands; 
and  omit  water-baptism  only  because  they  cannot  see 
it  is  commanded;  we  ought  (if  we  have  cause  to  think 
they  speak  truth)  by  no  means  to  consider  them  in 
the  same  light  with  total  unbelievers. 

But  the  willful  and  the  careless  despiscrs  of  this 
ordinance:  who,  admitting  it  to  be  of  God's  ap- 
pointment, neglect  it  notwithstanding:  these  are  not 
to  be  looked  on  as  within  this  covenant.  And  such 
as,  though  they  do  observe  it  for  form's  sake,  treat  it 
as  an  empty  insignificant  ceremony,  as  very  unwor- 
thy of  the  benefits  which  it  was  intended  to  convey. 
And,  bad  as  these  things  are,  little  better,  if  not 
worse,  will  be  the  case  of  those,  who,  acknowledging 
the  solemn  engagements  into  which  they  have  en- 
tered by  this  sacrament,  live  without  care  to  make 
them  good.  For  to  the  only  valuable  purpose,  of 
Gods  favor  and  eternal  happiness,  he  is  not  a  chris- 
tian, which  is  one  outwardly;  neither  is  that  baptism 
which  is  outward  in  the  flesh:  but  he  is  a  christian, 
who  is  one  inwardly;  and  baptism  is  that  of  the  heart, 
in  the  spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter;  whose  praise  is  not 
of  men,  but  of  God." 

o  Rom.  ii.  28,  29. 


308  i-ECTURE  xxxvr. 


LECTURE  XXXVI. 

OF  THE  lord's  PRAYER. 
PART    I. 

As  by  the  sacrament  of  baptism  we  enter  into  the 
christian  covenant;  so  by  that  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
we  profess  our  thankful  continuance  in  it:  and  there- 
fore the  first  answer  of  our  Catechism,  concerning  this 
ordinance,  tells  us  it  was  appointed  '  for  the  contin- 
ual remembrance  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  death  of 
Christ,  and  of  the  benefits  which  we  receive  thereby.' 
Now  the  nature  and  benefits  of  this  sacrifice  have 
been  already  explained  in  their  proper  places.  I 
shall  therefore  proceed  to  sliew,  that  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per is  rightly  said  here  to  be  '  ordained  for  a  remem- 
brance' of  it;  not  a  repetition,  as  the  Church  of 
Rome  teaches. 

Indeed  every  act,  both  of  worship  and  obedience, 
is  in  some  sense  a  sacrifice  to  God,  humbly  offered 
up  to  Him  for  his  acceptance.  And  this  sacrament 
in  particular,  being  a  memorial  and  representation 
of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  solemnly  and  religiously 
made,  may  well  enough  be  called,  in  a  figurative 
way  of  speaking,  by  the  same  name  with  what  it 
commemorates  and  represents.  But  that  he  should 
be  really  and  literally  offered  up  in  it,  is  the  directest 
contradiction  that  can  be,  not  only  to  common  sense, 
but  also  to  Scripture,  which  expressly  says,  that  He 
was  not  to  be  '  offered  often,  for  then  must  Ho  often 
have  suffered;  but  hath  appeared  once  to  put  away 
Bin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself,'"  and  after  that, '  for 
ever  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God:  for  by  one 

a  Hcb.  ii.  25,  26. 


LECTURE    XXXVr. 


307! 


offering  lie  hath  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are 
sanctified/* 

This  ordinance  then  was  appointed,  not  to  repeat, 
but  to  commemorate  the  sacrifice  of  Christ;  which 
though  we  are  required  to,  and  do  accordingly,  more 
or  less  explicitly,  in  all  our  acts  of  devotion,  yet  we 
are  not  required  to  do  it  l)y  any  visible  representation 
but  that  of  the  Lord's  Supper:  of  which  therefore 
our  Catechism  teaches,  in  the  second  answer,  that 
'  the  outward  part,  or  sign,  is  bread  and  wine,  which 
the  Lord  hath  commanded  to  be  received.'  And  in- 
deed lie  hath  so  clearly  commanded  both  to  be  re- 
ceived, that  no  reasonable  defence  in  the  least  can  be 
made,  either  for  the  sect  usually  called  Quakers,  who 
omit  this  sacrament  entirely:  or  for  the  Church  of 
Rome,  who  deprive  the  laity  of  one  half  of  it,  the  cup; 
and  forbid  all  but  the  priest  to  do,  what  (/hrist  hath 
appointed  all  without  exception  to  do.  They  plead 
indeed,  that  all,  whom  Christ  appointed  to  receive 
the  cup,  that  is,  the  Apostles,  were  priests.  But 
their  church  forbids  the  priests  themselves  to  receive 
it,  excepting  those  who  perform  the  service:  which 
the  Apostles  did  not  perform  but  their  Master.  And 
besides,  if  the  appointment  of  receiving  the  cup  be- 
longs only  to  priests,  that  of  receiving  the  bread  too 
must  relate  only  to  priests:  for  our  Saviour  hath  more 
expressly  directed  all  to  drink  of  the  one,  than  ta 
eat  of  the  other.  But  they  own  that  his  appoint- 
ment obliges  the  laity  to  receive  the  bread:  and 
therefore  it  obliges  them  to  receive  the  cup  also: 
which  that  they  did  accordingly,  1.  Cor.  xi.  makes 
as  plain  as  words  can  make  any  thing:  nor  was  it 
refused  them  for  1"200  years  after.  The}'  plead  far- 
ther, that  administering  the  holy  sacrament  is  called 
in  Scripture  'breaking  of  bread,'  without  mention- 
ing the  cup  at  all.  And  we  allow  it.  But  when 
common  feasts  are  expressed  in  Scripture  by  the 
single  phrase  of  'eating  bread,'  surely  this  doth  not 

•  Ueb.  z.  12, 14, 


308  LECTURE   XXXVI. 

prove,  that  the  guests  drank  nothing:  and  if  in  this 
religious  feast,  the  Uke  phrase  could  prove,  that  the 
laity  did  not  partake  of  the  cup,  it  will  prove  equally, 
that  the  priests  did  not  partake  of  it  either.  They 
plead  in  the  last  place,  that  by  receiving  the  bread, 
which  is  the  body  of  Christ,  we  receive  in  effect  the 
cup,  which  is  the  blood  at  the  same  time;  for  the 
blood  is  contained  in  the  body.  But  here,  besides 
that  our  Saviour,  who  was  surely  the  best  judge,  ap- 
pointed both,  they  quite  forget,  that  this  sacrament 
is  a  memorial  of  his  blood  being  shed  out  of  his  body: 
of  which,  without  the  cup,  there  can  be  no  commemo- 
ration: or  if  there  could,  the  cup  would  be  as  need- 
less for  the  clergy  as  for  the  laity. 

The  outward  signs,  therefore,  which  Christ  hath 
commanded  to  be  received,  equally  received  by  all 
Christians,  are  bread  and  wine.  Of  these  the  Jews 
had  been  accustomed  to  partake,  in  a  serious  and  de- 
vout manner,  at  all  their  feasts,  after  a  solemn  bless- 
ing, or  thanksgiving  to  God,  made  over  them,  for  his 
goodness  to  men.  But  especially  at  the  feast  of  the 
passover,  which  our  Saviour  was  celebrating  with  his 
disciples,  when  he  instituted  this  holy  sacrament;  at 
that  feast,  in  the  above-mentioned  thanksgiving, 
they  commemorated  more  at  large  the  mercies  of  their 
God,  dwelling  chiefly  however  on  their  deliverance 
from  the  bondage  of  Egypt.  Now  this  having  many 
particulars  resembling  that  infinitely  more  important 
redemption  of  all  mankind  from  sin  and  ruin,  which 
our  Saviour  was  then  about  to  accomplish;  He  very 
naturally  directed  his  disciples,  that  their  ancient  cus- 
tom should  for  the  future  be  applied  to  this  greatest 
of  divine  blessings,  and  become  the  memorial  of 
'  Christ  their  passover,  sacrificed  for  them:'**  as  in- 
deed the  bread  broken  aptly  enough  represented  his 
body;  and  the  wine  poured  forth  expressly  figured 
out  his  blood,  shed  for  our  salvation.  These  there- 
fore, as  the  third  answer  of  our  Catechism  very  justly 

•  1  Cor.  T.  T. 


LECTURE  X3CXVI.  309 

teaches,  are  *  the  inward  part'  of  this  sacrament, '  or 

the  thing  signilied.' 

But  the  Church  of  Rome,  instead  of  being  content 
with  saying,  that  tiie  bread  and  wine  are  signs  of  the 
body  and  blood  of  Clirist,  insist  on  it,  that  they  are 
turned  into  the  very  substance  of  his  body  and  blood; 
which  imagined  change  they  therefore  call  transub- 
stantiation.  Now  were  this  true,  there  would  be  no 
outward  sign  left:  for  they  say,  it  is  converted  into 
the  thing  signified:  and  by  consequence  there  would 
be  no  sacrament  left:  for  a  sacrament  is  '  an  outward 
sign  of  an  inward  grace.' 

Besides,  if  our  senses  can  in  any  case  inform  us 
what  any  Ihinj;  is,  they  inform  us  that  the  bread  and 
wine  continue  bread  and  wine.  And  if  we  cannot 
trust  our  senses,  when  we  have  full  opportunity  of 
using  them  all;  how  did  the  Apostles  know  that  our 
Saviour  taught  them,  and  performed  miracles:  or 
how  do  we  know  anyone  thing  around  us?  But  this 
doctrine  is  equally  contrary  to  all  reason  too.  To 
believe  that  our  Saviour  took  his  own  body,  literally 
speaking,  in  his  own  hands,  and  gave  the  whole  of 
that  one  body  to  every  one  of  his  Apostles,  and 
that  each  of  them  swallowed  Ilim  down  their  throats, 
though  all  the  while  lie  continued  sitting  at  the  ta- 
ble, before  their  eyes:  to  be]"eve  that  t'  e  very  same 
one  individual  body,  which  is  now  in  Heaven,  is  also 
in  many  thousands  of  diiforent  places  on  earth:  in 
some  standing  still  upon  the  altar;  in  others  carrying 
along  the  streets;  and  so  in  motion,  and  not  in  mo- 
tion at  the  same  time;  to  believe  that  the  same  body 
can  come  from  a  great  distance,  and  meet  itself,  as 
the  sacramental  bread  often  doth  in  their  processions, 
and  then  pass  by  itself,  and  go  away  from  itself  to 
the  same  distance  again:  is  to  believe  the  most  abso- 
lute impossibilities  and  contradictions.  If  such  things 
can  be  true,  nothing  can  be  false:  and  if  such  things 
cannot  be  true,  the  church  that  teaches  them  cannot 
be  infallible,  whatever  arts  of  puzzling  sophistry 
they  may  use  to  prove  either  that  or  any  of  their 
CC 


310  LECTURE   XXXVI. 

doctrines.  For  no  reasonings  are  ever  to  be  minded 
against  plain  common  sense. 

They  must  not  say,  this  doctrine  is  a  mystery.  For 
there  is  no  mystery,  no  obscurity  in  it:  but  it  is  as 
plainly  seen  to  be  an  error,  as  any  thing  else  is  seen 
to  be  a  truth.  And  the  more  so  because  it  relates, 
not  to  an  infinite  nature,  as  God;  but  entirely  to  what 
is  finite,  a  bit  of  bread  and  a  human  body.  They 
must  not  plead,  that  God  can  do  all  things.  For  that 
means  only  that  lie  can  do  all  things  that  can  be 
done:  not  that  He  can  do  what  cannot  be  done: 
make  a  thing  be  this  and  not  be  this,  be  here  and 
elsewhere,  at  the  same  time:  which  is  doing  and  un- 
doing at  once,  and  so  in  reality  doing  nothing.  They 
must  not  allege  Scripture  for  absurdities,  that  would 
sooner  prove  Scripture  false,  than  Scripture  can 
prove  them  true.      But  it  no  where  teaches  them. 

We  own  that  our  Saviour  says,  '  This  is  my  body 
which  is  broken;"''  and  'This  is  my  blood  which  is 
shed.'*  But  He  could  not  mean  literall}-.  For  as 
yet  his  body  was  not  broken,  nor  his  blood  shed:  nor 
is  either  of  them  in  that  condition  now.  And  there- 
fore the  bread  and  wine  neither  could  then,  nor  can 
now,  be  turned  into  them,  as  such.  Besides  our  Sa- 
viour said  at  the  same  time,  '  This  cup  is  the  New 
Testament  in  my  blood.'''  Was  the  substance  of  the 
cup  then  changed  into  the  New  Testament?  And  if 
not,  why  are  we  to  think  the  substance  of  the  bread 
and  wine  changed  into  his  body  and  blood?  The 
Apostle  says,  the  rock,  that  supplied  the  Israelites 
with  water  in  the  wilderness,  was  Christ:*^  that  is, 
represented  Him.  Every  body  says,  such  a  picture 
is  such  a  person,  meaning  the  representation  of  Him. 
Why  then  may  not  our  Saviour's  words  mean  so  too? 

The  Romanists  object,  that  though  what  repre- 
sents a  thing  naturally,  or  by  virtue  of  a  preceding 
institution,  may  be  called  by  its  name,  yet  such  a 
figure  as  this,  in  the  words  of  a  new  institution,  would 
not  be  intelligible.'^     But  the  representation  here  is 

«1  Cor.  si.  24.        J  Mattli.  x.xvi.  28.        cLuke  xxii.  20.    1  Cor.  xi.  25. 
d  1  Cov.  X.  4.  8  Prcuves  de  la  Eeligion,  vol.  iv.  p.  166. 


lectuhe  XXXVI. 


311 


natural  enough;  and  though  the  institution  was  new, 
figurative  speech  was  old.  And  the  Apostles  would 
certainly  rather  interpret  their  Master's  words  hy  a 
very  usual  tigure,  than  put  the  absurdest  sense  upon 
them  tiiat  could  be.  They  object  further,  that  if  He 
had  not  meant  literally,  lie  would  have  said,  not 
this,  but  this  brccid,  is  my  body."  But  we  may  better 
argue,  that  if  lie  had  meant  literally.  He  would 
have  said  in  the  strongest  terms,  that  he  did.  For 
there  was  great  need,  surely,  of  such  a  declaration. 
But  we  acknowledge,  that  the  bread  and  wine  are 
more  than  a  representation  of  his  body  and  blood: 
tbey  are  the  means,  by  which  the  benefits,  arising 
from  them,  are  conveyed  to  us;  and  have  thence  a 
further  title  to  be  called  by  their  name.  For  so  the 
instrument,  by  which  a  prince  forgives  an  offender, 
is  called  hi^  pardon,  because  it  conveys  his  pardon: 
the  delivery  of  a  writing  is  called  giving  possession 
of  an  estate;*  and  a  security  for  a  sum  of  money,  is 
called  the  sum  itself;  and  is  so  in  virtue  and  in  ef- 
fect, though  it  is  not  in  tlie  strictness  of  speech, and  re- 
ality of  substance.  Again:  our  Saviour,  we  own, 
says  in  St.  John  that  'lie  is  the  bread  of  life;'  that 
'  His  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  His  blood  is  drink  in- 
deed;' that  'whoso  eateth  the  one  and  drinketh  the 
other,  hath  eternal  life:'  and  that,  without  doing  it, 
'we  have  no  life  in  us.''=  But  this,  if  understood  lit- 
erally, would  prove,  not  that  the  bread  in  the  sacra- 
ment was  turned  into  his  flesh,  but  that  his  flesh  was 
turned  into  bread.  And  therefore  it  is  not  to  be  un- 
derstood literall}',  as  indeed  he  himself  gives  notice: 
'  The  flesh  protiteth  nothing;  the  words  which  I 
speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit  and  they  are  life;'  '^ 
it  is  not  the  gross  and  literal,  but  the  figurative  and 
spiritual,  eating  and  drinking;  the  partaking  by  a 
lively  faith  of  an  union  with  m(!,  and  being  inwardly 
nourished  by  the   fruits  of  my  offering  up  my  flesh 


a  Preuves  de  la  Relision,  vol.  iv.  p.  168.  6  ^ee  Cod.  8,  54, 1. 

«  John  vi.  48,  53,  54,  55.  d  Vcr.  63. 


812  LECTURE  XXXVI. 

and  blood  for  you,  that  alone  can  be  of  benefit  to  the 
soul. 

And  as  this  is  plainly  the  sense,  in  which  He  says, 
that  'His  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  his  blood  is  drink 
indeed:'  so  it  is  the  sense,  in  which  the  latter  part  of 
the  third  answer  of  our  Catechism  is  to  be  under- 
stood: that  'the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  verily 
and  indeed  taken  and  received  by  the  faithful  in  the 
Lord's  Supper:'  words  intended  to  shew,  that  our 
church  as  truly  believes  the  strongest  assertions  of 
Scripture  concerning  this  sacrament,  as  the  church 
of  Rome  doth:  only  takes  more  care  to  understand 
them  in  their  right  meaning:  which  is,  that  though, 
in  one  sense,  all  communicants  equally  partake  of 
what  Christ  calls  his  body  and  blood,  that  is,  the  Out- 
ward signs  of  them;  yet  in  a  much  more  important 
sense,  the  faithful  only,  the  pious  and  virtuous  re- 
ceiver, eats  his  flesh  and  drinks  his  blood;  shares  in 
the  life  and  strength  derived  to  men  from  his  incar- 
nation and  death:  and  through  faith  in  Him,  be- 
comes, by  a  vital  union,  one  with  Him;  a  '  member,' 
as  St.  Paul  expresses  it,  'of  his  flesh,  and  of  his 
bones:'*  certainly  not  in  a  literal  sense,  which  yet 
the  Romanists  might  as  well  assert,  as  that  we  eat 
his  flesh  in  a  literal  sense,  but  in  a  figurative  and 
spiritual  one.  In  appearance,  the  sacrament  of 
Christ's  death  is  given  to  qM  alike;  but  verily  and 
indeed,  in  its  beneficial  effects,  to  none  besides  the 
faithful.  Even  to  the  unworthy  communicant  He  is 
present,  as  He  is  wherever  we  meet  together  in  his 
name:  but  in  a  better  and  most  gracious  sense  to  the 
worthy  soul;  becoming  by  the  inward  virtue  of  his 
spirit,  its  food  and  sustenance. 

This  real  presence  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament,  his 
church  hath  always  believed.  But  the  monstrous 
notion  of  his  bodily  presence  was  started  seven  hun- 
dred years  after  his  death:  and  arose  chiefly  from  the 
indiscretion  of  preachers  and  writers  of  warm  imagi- 
nations, who  instead  of   explaining  judiciously  the 

o  Epk.  V.  3a 


LECTURE  XXXVI.  313 

lofty  figures  of  Scripture  language,  heightened  them, 
and  went  beyond  them;  till  both  it  and  they  had 
their  meaning  mistaken  most  astonishingly.  And 
when  once  an  opinion  had  taken  root,  that  seemed 
to  exalt  the  holy  sacrament  so  much,  it  easily  grew 
and  spread:  and  the  more  for  its  wonderful  absurdi- 
ty, in  those  ignorant  and  superstitious  ages:  till  at 
length,  five  hundred  years  ago,  and  twelve  hundred 
years  afterour  Saviour's  birth,  it  was  established  for  a 
gospel  truth  by  the  pretended  authority  of  the 
Romish  church.  And  even  this  had  been  tolerable 
in  comparison,  if  they  had  not  added  idolatrous  prac- 
tice to  erroneous  belief;  worshiping,  on  their  knees, 
a  bit  of  bread  for  the  Son  of  God.  Nor  are  they  con- 
tent to  do  this  themselves,  but  with  most  unchristian 
cruelty,  curse  and  murder  those,  who  refuse  it. 

It  is  true,  we  also  kneel  at  the  sacrament,  as  they 
do:  but  for  a  very  difFerent  purpose;  not  to  acknow- 
ledge '  any  corporeal  presence  of  Christ's  natural 
flesh  and  blood;'  as  our  church,  to  prevent  all  possi- 
bility of  misconstruction  expressly  declares;  adding, 
that  'Ills  body  is  in  Heaven,  and  not  here:'  but  to 
worship  Him,  who  is  every  where  present,  the  invisi- 
ble God.  And  this  posture  of  kneeling  we  by  no 
means  look  upon,  as  in  itself,  necessary:  but  as  a  very 
becoming  appointment;  and  very  fit  to  accompany 
the  prayers  and  praises,  which  we  offer  up  at  the  in- 
Btant  of  receiving;  and  to  express  that  inward  spirit 
of  piety  and  humility,  on  which  our  partaking  worthi- 
ly of  this  ordinance,  and  receiving  benefit  from  it, 
depend.  But  the  benefits  of  the  holy  sacrament,  and 
the  qualiticalions  for  it,  shall,  God  billing,  be  the 
subject  of  two  other  discourses.  In  the  mean  time 
'  consider  what  hath  been  said;  and  the  Lord  give 
you  understanding  in  all  things.'" 

•  2  Tim.  ii.  7. 

cc  2 


814  LECTURE  xxxvn. 


LECTURE   XXXVII. 

OF  THE  lord's  supper. 

PART  II. 

The  doctrine  of  our  Catechism,  concerning  the 
Lord's  Supper,  hath  been  already  so  far  explained, 
as  to  shew  you,  that  it  was  ordained,  not  for  the  repe- 
tition, 'but  the  continual  remembrance  of  the  sacri- 
fice of  Christ:'  that  the  outward  signs  in  it  are  bread 
and  wine:  both  which  the  Lord  hath  commanded  to 
be  received  by  all  christians:  and  both  which  are  ac- 
cordingly received,  and  not  changed  and  transub- 
stantiated into  the  real  and  natural  body  and  blood 
of  Christ:  which  however  the  faithful,  and  they  only, 
do,  under  this  representation  of  it,  verily  and  indeed 
receive  into  a  most  beneficial  union  v/ith  themselves: 
that  is,  do  verily  and  indeed,  by  a  spiritual  connec- 
tion with  their  incarnate  Redeemer  and  Head  through 
faith,  partake,  in  this  ordinance,  of  that  heavenly  fa- 
vor and  grace,  which  by  oiFcring  up  his  body  and 
blood.  He  hath  procured  for  his  true  disciples  and 
members. 

But  of  what  benefits  in  particular  the  faithful  par- 
take in  this  sacrament,  through  the  grace  and  favor 
of  God,  our  Catechism  teaches  in  the  fourth  answer, 
to  which  I  now  proceed:  and  which  tells  us  it  is, 
'  The  strengthening  and  refreshing"  of  our  souls  by 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  as  our  bodies  are  by 
the  bread  and  wine.'  Now  both  the  truth  and  the 
manner  of  this  refreshment  of  our  souls  will  appear 
by  considering  the  nature  of  the  sacrament,  and  the 
declarations  of  Scripture  concerning  it. 

Indeed  the  due  preparation  for  it,  the  self  exami- 
nation required  in  order  to  it,  and  the  religious  ex- 
ercises which  that  examination  will  of  course  point 


LECTURE  XXXVII.  315 

out  to  us,  must  previously  be  of  great  service:  tis  you 
will  see,  when  I  come  to  that  head.  And  the  actual 
participation  will  add  further  advantages  of  unspeak- 
able value. 

Considered  as  an  act  of  obedience  to  our  Saviour's 
command,  'do  this  in  remembrance  of  me,'  it  must 
be  beneficial  to  us:  for  all  obedience  will.  Consid- 
ered as  obedience  to  a  command,  p'roceeding  princi- 
pally, if  not  solely,  from  his  mere  will  and  pleasure, 
it  contributes  to  form  us  into  a  very  needful,  a  sub- 
missive and  implicitly  dutiful,  temper  of  mind.  But 
further:  it  is  the  most  eminent  and  distinguished  act 
of  christian  worship:  consisting  of  the  devoutest 
thankfulness  to  God  for  the  greatest  blessing,  which 
he  ever  bestowed  on  man;  attended,  as  it  naturally 
must,  with  earnest  prayers  that  the  gift  may  avail  us, 
to  our  spiritual  and  eternal  good.  And  it  is  much 
more  likely  to  affect  us  very  strongly  and  usefully, 
for  expressing  his  bounty  and  our  sense  of  it,  not  as 
our  daily  devotions  do,  in  words  alone,  but  in  the  less 
common,  and  therefore  more  solemn  way,  of  visible 
signs  and  representations:  'setting  forth  evidently 
before  our  eyes,'  to  use  St.  Paul's  language, '  Christ 
crucified  amongst  us.'"^  This,  of  necessity,  unless  we 
are  strangely  wanting  to  ourselves,  must  raise  the 
warmest  affections  of  love,  that  our  hearts  are  capa- 
ble of,  to  him  who  hath  given  his  son,  to  him  who 
hath  given  himself,  for  us.  And  as  love  is  the  no- 
blest principle  of  religious  behaviour,  what  tends  so 
powerfully  to  animate  our  love,  must  in  proportion 
tend  to  perfect  us  in  every  branch  of  duty,  accor- 
ding to  the  just  reasoning  of  the  same  apostle:  'For 
the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us;  because  we  thus 
judge  that  if  one  died  for  all,  then  were  all  dead; 
and  he  died  for  all,  that  they  who  live,  should  not 
henceforth  live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him,  which 
died  for  them,  and  rose  again.'*  When  our  Saviour 
•aid  to  his  disciples,  '  if  ye  love  me,  keep  my  com- 

•  Gal.  iii.  1.  »  2  Cor.  v.  14,15. 


316  LECTURE    XXXTII. 

roandments;'"  he  knew  the  motive  was  no  less  enga- 
ging, than  it  is  reasonable.  And  therefore,  he  adds, 
very  soon  after, '  if  a  man  love  mc,  he  will  keep  my 
words.'* 

But  this  institution  carries  in   it   a  yet  further  tie 
upon  us;  being,  as  our  blessed  Lord  himself  declared, 

*  the  New  Testament  in  his  blood:'*  the  memorial  and 
acknowledgment  of  the  second  covenant  between 
God  and  Man,  which  was  founded  on  his  death;  and 
requires  a  sincere  faith  and  obedience  on  our  part, 
as  the  condition  of  grace  and  mercy  on  his.  'Every 
one  that  namelh  the   name  of  Christ,'   is   bound   to 

*  depart  from  iniquity.'"^  But  the  obligation  is  re- 
doubled on  them  who  come  to  his  table  as  friends, 
and  '  make  a  covenant  with  him,  by  partaking  of  his 
'sacrifice.'*  If  these  live  wickedly,  it  is  declaring 
with  the  boldest  contempt,  that  they  consider '  Christ 
as  the  minister  of  sin;'-^  and  'count  the  blood  of  the 
covenant,'  wherewith  they  profess  to  be  'sanctified, 
an  unholy  thing. '»  Partaking  therefore  of  this  holy 
ordinance  is  renewing,  in  the  most  awful  manner,  our 
engagements  to  the  service  which  we  owe,  as  well  as 
oar  claims  to  the  favors,  that  God  hath  promised.  It 
is  our  sacrament,  our  oath,  to  be  faithful  'soldiers'* 
under  the  great  'captain  of  our  salvation:'  which 
surely  we  cannot  take  thus,  without  being  effica- 
ciously influenced  to  the  religious  observance  of  it, 
in  every  part  of  a  christian  life. 

But  there  is  one  part  especially,  and  one  of  the  ut- 
most importance,  to  which  this  institution  peculiarly 
binds  us,  that  of  universal  good-will  and  charity.  For 
commemorating,  in  so  solemn  an  action,  the  love  of 
Christ  to  us  all,  cannot  but  move  us  to  that  mutual 
imitation  of  his  love,  which,  just  before  his  appoint- 
ing this  holy  Sacrament,  he  so  earnestly  and  atFec- 
tionately  enjoined  his  followers,  as  the  distinguishing 
badge  of  their  profession.     '  This  is   my   command- 

«  John  xir.  15.  i  Ver.  23.  e  Luke  xxii  20.         </ 2Tim.  ii.  19. 

•  Psalm  1.  5.  /  Gal.  ii.  17.      g  Heb.  x.  29.  A  2  Tim.  ii.  3,  4. 

•  Heb.  ii.  10. 


LECTURE  XXXVII.  317 

ment,  that  ye  love  one  another,  as  I  have  loved  yoa. 
Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  h  man  laj 
down  his  life  for  his  friends.  Ye  are  my  friends,  if 
ye  do  whatsoever!  command  you.'"  'Hereby  shall  all 
men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love 
one  to  another.'^  Then  besides;  commemorating  his 
love  jointly,  as  the  servants  of  one  master,  and  mem- 
bers of  one  body,  partaking  of  the  same  covenant 
of  grace,  and  the  same  hope  of  everlasting  happi- 
ness, must,  if  we  have  any  feeling  of  what  we  do, 
incline  us  potently  to  that  reciprocal  union  of  hearts, 
which  indeed  the  very  act  of  communicating  sug- 
gests and  recommends  to  us.  '  For  we,  being  many, 
are  one  bread  and  one  body:  for  we  are  all  partak- 
ers of  that  one  bread.' *= 

Another  grace,  which  this  commemoration  of  our 
Saviour's  death  peculiarly  excites,  ishumility  of  soul. 
We  acknowledge  by  it,  that  we  are  sinners;  and 
have  no  claim  to  pardon  or  acceptance,  but  through 
his  sacrifice,  and  his  mediation,  w^hose  merits  we  thus 
plead,  and  set  forth  before  God.  And  this  considera- 
tion must  surely  dispose  us  very  strongly  to  a  thank- 
ful observance  of  his  commands,  to  watchfulness  over 
our  own  hearts,  to  mildness  towards  others.  '  For 
we  ourselves  also  have  been  foolish,  disobedient,  de- 
ceived; and  not  by  works  of  righteousness  which  we 
have  done,  but  according  to  his  mercy,  God  hath 
saved  us,  which  he  shed  on  us  abundantly  through 
Christ  Jesus  our  Saviour.''' 

And  as  this  Sacrament  will  naturally  strengthen  us 
in  all  these  good  dispositions,  we  cannot  doubt  but 
God  will  add  his  blessing  to  the  use  of  such  proper 
means,  especially  beingappointed  means.  For  since 
he  hath  threatened  punishment  to  unworthy  receiv- 
ers, he  will  certainly  bestow  rewards  on  worthy  ones. 
Our  Saviour  hath  told  us,  that  'his  flesh  is  meat  in- 
deed, and  his  blood  is  drink  indeed:'*  sustenance  and 
refreshment  to  the  souls  of  men.      When  he  blessed 

a  John  XV.  12,  13, 14.  4  John  xiii.  35.  «  1  Cor.  x.  17. 

d  Tit.  iii.  3,  5,  6.  e  John  vi.  55. 


318  LECTURE    XXXVII. 

the  bread  and  wine,  he  undoubtedly  prayed,  and  not 
in  vain,  that  they  might  be  effectual  for  the  good 
purposes,  which  he  designed  should  be  attained  by 
this  holy  rite.  And  St.  Paul  hath  told  us,  if  it  needs, 
more  expressly,  that  '  the  cup  which  we  bless,  is  the 
communion,'  that  is,  the  communication  to  us,  'of  the 
blood  of  Christ;  and  tlie  bread,  which  we  break,  of 
the  body  of  Christ:''^  that  is,  of  a  saving  union  with 
him,  and  therefore  of  the  benefits  procured  us  by  his 
death;  which  arc,  forgiveness  of  our  offences;  for  he 
hath  said,  '  this  is  my  blood  of  the  New  Testament, 
which  is  shed  for  tlie  remission  of  sins:'*  increase  of 
the  gracious  influences  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  for  the 
apostle  hath  said,  plainly  speaking  of  this  ordinance, 
that  '  we  are  all  made  to  drink  into  one  spirit:'*^  and 
everlasting  life:  for  'whoso  eateth  his  flesh,  and 
drinketh  his  blood,  dwelleth  in  Christ,  and  Christ  in 
him,  and  He  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day:'*^ 
whence  a  Father  of  the  apostolic  age,  Ignatius,  calls 
the  Eucharist,  'the  medicine  of  immortality;  a  pre- 
servative, that  we  should  not  die,  but  live  forever  in 
Jesus  Christ.'* 

But  then  what  hath  been  already  hinted  to  you 
must  be  always  carefully  observed;  that  these  bene- 
fits are  to  be  expected  only  from  partaking  worthily 
of  it:  'for  he  that  eateth  and  drinketh  unworthily,' 
St.  Paul  hath  told  us,  '  is  guilty  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  the  Lord,'-^  that  is,  guilty  of  irreverence  towards 
it,  'and  eateth  and  drinketh  judgment  to  himself.*^ 
Our  translation  indeed  hath  it, '  damnation  to  himself.' 
But  there  is  so  great  danger  of  this  last  word  being 
understood  here  in  too  strong  a  sense,  that  it  would 
be  much  safer,  and  exacter,  to  translate  it,  (as  it  is 
often  translated  elsewhere,  and  once  in  a  few  verses 
after  this  passage,  and  from  what  follows  ought  un- 
deniably to  be  translated  here)  judgment  or  condem- 
nation: not  to  certain  punishment  in  another  life,  but 

a  1  Cor.  X.  16.  *  Matth.  xxvi.  28.  «  1  Cor.  xii.  13. 

d  John  vi.  54,  56.     e  Ign.  ad  Eph.  c.  20.  See  Watcrland  on  the  Euch.  p.  217. 

/I  Cor.  xi.  27.  ff  1  Cor.  xi.  29. 


LECTURE  xxxvir.  319 

to  such  marks  of  God's  displeasure  as  he  sees  fit; 
which  will  be  confined  to  this  world,  or  extended  to 
the  next,  as  the  case  requires.  For  '  receiving  un- 
worthily' may,  according  to  the  kind  and  degree  of 
it,  be  cither  a  very  great  sin,  or  comparatively  a  small 
one.  But  all  dangerous  kinds  and  degrees  may  with 
ease  be  avoided,  if  we  only  take  care  to  come  to  the 
Sacrament  with  proper  dispositions,  and  which  will 
follow  of  course,  to  behave  at  it  in  a  proper  manner. 
To  these  dispositions  our  Catechism  proceeds.  But 
more  is  needful  to  be  known  concerning  them  than 
can  well  be  laid  before  you  now.  Therefore  I  shall 
conclude  at  present  by  desii'ing  you  to  observe,  that 
no  unworthiness,  but  ourown,  can  possibly  endanger 
us,  or  prevent  our  receiving  benefit.  Doubtless  it 
would  both  be  more  pleasing  and  more  edifying,  to 
come  to  '  the  table  of  Ihe  Lord'**  in  company  with 
such  only  as  are  qualified  for  a  place  at  it:  and  they 
who  are  unqualified,  ought  when  they  properly  can, 
to  be  restrained  from  it.  But  we  have  neither  direc- 
tion nor  permission  to  stay  away,  because  others  come 
who  s'nould  not:  nor  can  they  ever  be  so  effectually 
excluded,  but  that  'tares'  will  be  mixed  '  among  the 
wheat:'  and  attempting  to  'root  them  up'  may  often 
be  more  hurtful  than  '  letting  both  grpw  together  un- 
til the  harvest.'*  Nay,  should  even  the  '  stewards' 
and  dispensers  'of  God's  mysteries'*  be  unholy  per- 
sons, though  it  be  a  grievous  temptation  to  others  to 
'abhor  the  oftering  of  tlie  Lord,'"^  yet  that  is  holy 
still.  '  They  shall  bear  their  iniquity:'  but,  notwith- 
standing,'  all  the  promises'  of  all  God's  ordinances 
'are  yea  and  amen,'  sure  and  certain,  'in  Jesua 
Christ'*  to  as  many  as  '  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in 
truth.*-^ 

■  1  Cor.  I.  21.  4  Hatth.  iiii.28,  30.  •  1  Cor.  ir.  2. 

4  1  Sam.  ii.  17.  «  2  Cor.  i.  20.  /  John  ir.  23. 


320  LECTURE  XXXVIII. 

LECTURE   XXXVIII. 

OF    THE    lord's    SUPPER. 

PART  III. 

What  qualifications  and  dispositions  are  required 
of  them  who  come  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  Scrip- 
ture hath  not  particularly  expressed:  for  they  are 
easily  collected  from  the  nature  of  this  ordinance. 
But  our  Catechism,  in  its  fifth  and  last  answer  con- 
cerning it,  hath  reduced  them  very  justly  to  three: 
Repentance,  Faith,  and  Charity. 

I.  '  That  we  repent  us  truly  of  our  former  sins, 
stedfastly  purposing  to  lead  a  new  life.'  For  as  we 
are  by  nature  prone  to  sin;  and  the  youngest  and 
best  among  us  have  in  more  instances  than  a  few  been 
guilty  of  it,  the  less  the  better:  so  in  Christianity, 
repentance  is  the  foundation  of  every  thing.  Now 
the  sorrow  that  we  ought  to  feel  for  the  least  sin, 
must  be  a  very  serious  one:  and  for  greater  offences 
in  proportion  deepei".  But  the  vehemence  and  pas- 
sionateness  oi  grief  will  on  every  occasion,  and  par- 
ticularly on  this,  be  extremely  different  in  different 
persons.  And  therefore  all"  that  God  expects,  is  a 
sincere,  though  it  may  be  a  calm,  concern  for  every 
past  fault,  of  which  we  are  conscious,  and  for  the 
multitudes,  which  we  have  either  not  observed  or 
forgotten.  And  this  concern  must  proceed  from  a 
sense  of  duty,  and  produce  the  good  effects  of  an 
humble  confession  to  him  in  all  cases,  and. to  our  fel- 
low creatures,  in  all  cases  needful;  of  restitution  for 
the  injuries  that  we  have  done,  so  far  as  it  is  possible; 
and  of  a  settled  resolution  to  amend  our  hearts  and 
lives,  wherever  it  is  wanting.  More  than  this  we 
cannot  do;  and  less  than  this  God  cannot  accept* — 


LECTURE    XXXVril.  321 

For  it  would  be  giving  us  a  license  to  disobey  him,  if 
he  allowed  us  to  come  to  his  table,  and  profess  to 
*  have  fellowship  with  him,'  while  we  'walked  in  dark- 
ness.'"' JNIere  infirmities  indeed,  and  undesigned  frail- 
ties, provided  wc  strive  against  them  with  any  good 
degree  of  honest  care,  and  humble  ourselves  in  the 
divine  presence  for  them,  so  far  as  we  are  sensible  of 
them,  will  not  provoke  God  to  reject  us,  as  unworthy 
receivers,  though  in  strictness  we  are  all  unworthy. 
For  if  such  failures  as  these  made  persons  unfit,  no- 
body could  be  fit.  And  therefore  they  will  be  no 
excuse  for  omitting  what  Christ  hath  commanded: 
nor  can  be  any  reason  why  we  should  not  do  it  with 
comfort. 

But  whoever  lives  in  any  willful  sin,  cannot  safely 
come  to  the  holy  Sacrament:  nor,  which  I  beg  you 
to  observe,  can  he  safely  stay  away.  For,  as  the 
hypocrisy  of  professing  amendment  falsely  at  God's 
table  is  a  great  sin;  so  the  profanoness  of  turning 
our  backs  upon  it,  because  we  will  not  amend,  is  to 
the  full  as  great  a  one;  and  it  is  the  merest  folly  in 
the  world  to  choose  either,  as  the  safer  way:  for  a 
wicked  person  can  be  safe  no  way.  But  let  him  re- 
solve to  quit  his  wickedness;  and  when  he  is  thorough- 
ly sure,  so  far  as  he  can  judge  from  a  competent  ex- 
perience, that  he  hath  resolved  upon  it  etfectually, 
then  he  may  as  safely  receive  as  he  can  say  his  pray- 
ers. And  such  a  one  should  come,  not  with  servile 
fear  as  to  a  hard  master;  but  with  willing  duty  as  to 
a  merciful  Father.  Nay,  should  he  afterwards  break 
his  resolutions,  though  doubtless  it  would  bethe  just- 
est  cause  of  heavy  grief,  yet  it  would  not  prove  that 
he  received  unwortiiily,  but  only  that  he  hath  be- 
haved unworthily  since  lie  received.  And  the  thing 
for  him  to  do  is,  to  lament  his  fault  with  deeper  con- 
trition, renew  his  good  puipose  more  firmly,  pray  for 
help  from  above  with  more  earnestness,  watch  over 
himself  with  more  prudent  care:  then  go  again  to 

a  1  John  i.  6. 


322  LECTURE    XXXVIII. 

God's  altar,  thankfully  commemorate  his  pardoning 
love,  and  claim  anew  the  benefit  of  his  gracious  cov- 
enant. Following  this  course  honestly,  he  will  assu- 
redly gain  ground.  And  therefore  such  as  do  not 
gain  ground,  do  not  follow  it  honestly:  but  allow 
themselves  to  go  round  in  a  circle  of  sinning,  then 
repenting,  as  they  call  it,  and  communicating,  then 
sinning  again;  as  if  every  communiot\  did  of  course 
wipe  olf  the  old  score,  and  so  they  might  begin  a 
new  one  without  scruple:  which  is  the  absurdest,  the 
most  irreligious,  the  most  fatal  imagination,  that  can 
be. 

II.  The  next  thing  required  of  them  who  come  to 
the  Lord's  Supper,  is  'a  lively  faith  in  God's  mercy 
through  Christ,  with  a  thankful  remembrance  of  his 
death.'  And  the  faith  necessary  is  a  settled  persua- 
sion, that  for  the  sake  of  the  meritorious  obedience 
and  sufferings  of  our  blessed  Redeemer,  God  will  par- 
don true  penitents;  together  with  a  comfortable  trust, 
that  we,  as  such  have  an  interest  in  his  merits.  But 
here  again  you  must  observe,  that  different  persons 
may  have  very  different  degrees  of  this  persuasion 
and  trust.  Some  may  be  'weak  in  faith:*"  may  have 
cause  to  say  with  him  in  the  gospel  of  St.  Mark, 
'  Lord,  I  believe;  help  thou  mine  unbelief;'*  and  yet 
their  prayers,  like  his,  may  be  graciously  heard. — 
Others  may  be  strong,*^  and  '  increase,"'^  till  they 
'  abound  in  faith.'''  And  such  have  great  reason  to 
be  thankful  to  God  for  themselves:  but  surely  they 
ought  never  to  judge  hardly  of  their  brethren,  who 
have  not  advanced  so  far.  The  rule  of  judging, 
both  in  the  Catechism  and  tlic  Scripture,  is  not  by 
the  positiveness,  but  by  the  liveliness  of  our  faith; 
that  is,  the  fruits  of  a  christian  life,  which  it  produ- 
ces; for 'faith  without  works  is  dead. '-^  If  we  can- 
not shew  the  evidence  of  these,  the  highest  confi- 
dence will  do  us  no  good:  and  if  we  can,  we  need 
have  no  doubts  concerning  cur  spiritual  condition; 

aRom.  xiv.  1.  J  Mark  ix.  24.  e  Rom.  iv.  20. 

d  Luke  xvii.  5.  e  Col.  ii.  7.  /  James  ii.  17. 


LECTURE   xxxviir.  323 

;nul  tliougli  wc  have  ever  so  many,  provided  we  have 
no  sullieient  reason  for  thcin,  we  may  celebrate  this 
holy  ordinance  very  safely.  For  such  weaknesses 
in  our  natural  temper  and  spirits  are  no  way  incon- 
sistent with  having,  in  our  lixed  and  deliberate  judg- 
ment, that  'full  trust  in  God's  mercy,'  which  the  com- 
munion service  requires:  and  we  cannot  take  a  more 
likely  method,  eitiier  to  perfect  our  repentance,  or 
to  strengthen  our  faitii,  than  receiving  the  Sacra- 
ment freciucnlly. 

Our  (.'atcchism  teaches  further,  that  our  faith  in 
Christ  must  be  accompanied  '  with  a  thankful  re- 
memi)rance  of  his  death.'  And  surely  if  we  believe 
that  he  died  to  save  us,  we  must  be  thankful  for  it. 
But  then  the  measure  of  our  thankfulness,  must  be 
taken  from  the  goodness  and  constancy  of  its  cfTecls, 
not  from  that  sensible  warmth  and  fervency,  which 
we  cannot,  ordinarily  speaking,  feel  so  strongly  in 
spiritual  things  as  in  temporal;  and  of  which  bad 
persons  may  at  times  have  very  much,  and  good  per- 
sons little.  For  that  is  tiie  true  thankfulness,  which 
produces  love.  And  'this  is  the  love  of  God,  that 
we  keep  his  commandments.'" 

But  there  is  one  commandment,  as  I  have  shewn 
you,  peculiarly  connected  with  this  ordinance.  And 
therefore  our  Catechism  specifics  it  separately,  and 
in  express  terms,  by  requiring, 

111.  Tiiat  we  'be  in  charily  with  all  men.'  For 
we  can  have  no  share  in  the  love  of  our  creator,  our 
redeemer,  and  sanctifier,  unless,  in  imitation  of  it, 
we  love  one  another:  and,  as  the  goodness  of  God 
is  universal,  so  must  ours.  Receiving  the  holy  com- 
munion was  indeed  intended  to  increase  the  degree 
of  it:  but  the  reality  we  must  have,  before  we  are 
worthy  to  receive.  And  we  must  shew  it  is  real,  by 
'  forgiving  them  who  trespass  against  us;'  by  assisting, 
as  far  as  can  be  reasonably  expected,  those  who  need 
assistance  of  any  kind;  by  our  hearty  prayers  for 
those,  whom  we  can  help  no  other  way;  by  faithfully 

o  1  Jobn  V.  3. 


324  LECTURE  xxxviir. 

performing  the  duties  of  our  several  stations  and  re- 
lations in  life;  and  by  condescension,  mildness,  and 
humanity,  towards  every  person,  as  occasion  otFers: 
all  which  duties,  and  particularly  that  of  forgiveness, 
have  been  explained  to  you  in  their  proper  places. 

These  then  being  the  dispositions  requisite  for  re- 
ceiving the  holy  Sacrament,  as  indeed  they  are  for 
obtaining  eternal  happiness:  we  are  all  greatly  con- 
cerned to  examine  ourselves,  whether  we  have  them 
or  not:  and  should  have  been  concerned  to  do  it, 
though  this  ordinance  had  never  been  appointed. — 
But  we  are  now  more  especially  bound  to  it  with  a 
view  to  this  ordinance;  both  from  the  nature  of  it, 
and  from  St.  Paul's  positive  injunction:  '  Let  a  man 
examine  himself,  and  so  let  him  eat  of  that  bread, 
and  drink  of  that  cup.'" 

The  principal  subjects  of  our  examination  are 
comprehended  under  the  three  heads  just  now  men- 
tioned. But  as  to  any  particular  method  to  be  taken 
or  time  to  be  spent  in  it,  or  in  any  other  further  pre- 
paration subsequent  to  it,  we  have  no  command:  it 
is  h  ft  to  every  one's  prudence  and  voluntary  piety. 
They  who  live  in  a  constant  practice  of  religion  and 
virtue,  are  alway  fit  for  the  Sacrament:  and  may,  if 
the  call  be  sudden,  by  reflecting  for  a  few  moments, 
suflaciently  know  that  they  are  fit.  Persons,  who 
live  in  any  sin,  may  as  easily  and  quickly  know  that 
they  are  not.  And  it  is  only  in  doubtful  cases,  that 
any  length  of  consideration  is  necessary  to  satisfy  us 
about  this  matter.  But  it  must  be  extremely  useful 
for  all  persons,  not  only  to  be  attentive  to  their  ways 
constantly,  but  to  look  back  upon  them  frequently: 
much  more  frequently  than  almost  any  one  receives 
the  sacrament.  And  as  tilings,  which  have  no  cer- 
tain season  fixed  for  them,  are  very  apt  to  be  neglect- 
ed; we  should  fix  upon  this,  as  one  certain  season 
for  as  particular  an  inspection  into  the  state  of  our 
hearts  and  lives  as  we  can  well  make,  and  can  hope 
to  be  the  better  for  joining  with  it  suitable  medita- 

a  1  Cor.  xi.  28 


LECTURE  xxxviir.  325 

tions,  resolutions,  and  devotions.  But  then  in  the 
whole  of  this  work,  we  must  be  careful,  neither  to 
hurry  over  any  part  thoughtlessly,  nor  lengthen  it 
wearisomely.  And  in  our  examination  we  must  be 
especially  careful,  neither  to  flatter  nor  yet  to  af- 
fright ourselves;  but  observe  impartially  what  is 
right  in  us,  thank  God,  and  take  the  comfort  of  it; 
acknowledge  what  is  wrong,  beg  pardjon,  and  amend 
it.  For  without  amendment,  being  ever  so  sorry  will 
avail  nothing. 

The  last  thing,  to  be  mentioned  in  relation  to  this 
holy  sacrament,  is  our  behaviour  at  it;  which  ought 
to  be  very  serious  and  reverent;  such  as  may  shew, 
in  the  propcrest  manner,  that  to  use  the  Apostle's 
words,  we  discern  or  distinguish  '  the  Lord's  body;'  • 
look  on  the  action  of  receiving  it,  as  one  of  no  com- 
mon nature,  but  as  the  religious  memorial  of  our 
blessed  Saviour's  dying  for  us,  and  by  his  death  es- 
tablishing with  us  a  covenant  of  pardon,  grace,  and 
everlasting  felicity  on  God's  part,  and  of  faith  and 
holiness  on  ours.  With  this  important  consideration, 
we  should  endeavor  to  atfect  our  hearts  deeply  and 
tenderly:  yet  neither  to  force  our  minds,  if  we  could, 
into  immoderate  transports,  by  which  we  shall  only 
bewilder  and  lose,  instead  of  benefiting  ourselves; 
nor  express  even  what  we  ought  to  feel,  by  any  im- 
proper singularities  of  gesture;  nor  yet  be  dejected, 
if  we  have  less  feeling,  and  even  less  attention  to  the 
service,  than  we  have  reason  to  wish.  For  such 
things  may  be,  in  a  great  measure  at  least,  natural 
and  unavoidable.  Or,  supposing  them  faults;  they 
may  be,  and  often  are,  the  faults  of  such  persons,  as 
notwithstanding  are,  on  the  whole,  very  worthy  com- 
municants. They  may  be,  for  a  time,  useful  means 
of  keeping  us  humble  and  watchful:  after  that,  God 
may  deliver  us  from  them;  and  should  we  continue 
all  our  lives  afflicted  with  them,  it  would  never  hin- 
der our  receiving  all  the  necessary  benefits  of  tbi| 
ordinance. 

a  1  Cor.  zi.  29 

DD2 


326  LECTURE    XXXIX. 

God  grant  that  both  it,  and  all  his  other  gracious 
institutions,  may  contribute  effectually  to  '  build  us 
up  in  our  most  holy  faith'  in  a  suitable  practice,  that 
so  we  may  ever  '  keep  ourselves  in  the  love  of  God;' 
and  on  good  grounds  '  look  for  the  mercy  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  unto  eternal  life,'" 


LECTURE   XXXIX. 

THE  CONCLUSION. 

Having  now,  through  God's  mercy,  carried  on 
these  Lectures  to  the  end  of  the  Catechism,  and  in 
some  measure  explained  to  you  every  part  of  chris- 
tian faith,  and  duty  comprehended  in  it,  I  have  only 
one  instruction  more  to  add,  but  the  most  important 
of  all  for  you  to  remember  and  consider  well:  that 
'  if  ye  know  these  things,  happy  are  ye,  if  ye  do 
them*,'''   and  miserable  are  ye,  if  ye  do  them  not. 

We  all  know  indeed  by  nature,  in  a  great  degree, 
what  manner  of  persons  we  ought  to  be  in  this  world: 
and  therefore,  if  we  fail  of  being  such,  are  in  a  great 
degree  inexcusable.  For  how  little  teaching  soever 
some  may  have  had;  yet  our  Saviour's  home  question 
will  reach  even  them:  'Yea,  and  why  even  of  your- 
selves judge  ye  not  what  is  right?''^  'The  work  of 
the  law  is  \vritten  in  the  hearts'  (of  men,)  '  their  con- 
science also  bearing  witness.'*^  Being  reasonable 
creatures,  we  are  evidentlj^  bound  to  govern  our  pas- 
sions, appetites,  fancies,  and  whole  behaviour,  by  the 
rules  of  reason.  And  who  doth  not  see,  that  sobriety, 
temperance,  and  modest}^,  are  things  perfectly  rea- 
sonable; and  excess,  and  dissoluteness,  and  indecen- 
cy, mischievous  and  shameful?  Being  social  crea- 
tures, we  are  as  evidently  bound  to  whatever  will 
make  society  happj^     And  since  we  are  very  sensi» 

a  Jude,  ver.  20,  21;  5  John  xiii.  17.  c  Luke  xii.  57- 

d  Roui.  ii.  15. 


LECTURE    XXXIX.  327 

ble,  that  others  ought  to  treat  us  with  justice  and 
kindness,  peaceably  mind  their  own  business,  and 
diligently  provide  for  their  own  maintenance,  we 
cannot  but  be  sensible,  that  we  ought  to  do  the  same 
things.  Then  lastly,  being  creatures  capable  of 
knowing  our  Creator,  who  '  is  not  far  from  every  one 
of  us;  ibr  in  Him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our 
being:*"  it  follows  very  clearly,  that  we  arc  not  to 
forget  Ilim,  but  worship  and  obc}'  him  as  the  all- 
mighty,  all-wise,  and  all-good  Maker  and  Lord  of  the 
universe;  acknowledge  our  dependence  on  Him,  be 
thankful  to  Him  for  his  mercies,  and  resign  ourselves 
to  his  disposal. 

Thus  much,  one  should  have  thought,  all  men  must 
have    known,    without   supernatural   teaching:    and 
certainly  they  might,  and  therefore  are  justly  blam- 
able   and    punishable,  if   they  do   not.     But  still  it 
hath  appeared  in  fact  wherever  men  have  been  left 
to  their  own   reason,  neither   every  one  hath  taught 
himself,  nor  the  wiser  part  of  the  world  taught  the 
rest,  even  these   plain   things:  so  as  to  produce  any 
steady  regard  to  them,  as  duties,  or  even  any  settled 
conviction  of  them,  as  truths.     And  for  want  of  it, 
sin  and   misery  have  prevailed  every  where.     Men 
have  made  others  and  themselves  wretched  in  num- 
berless ways:  and  often  doubly  wretched  by  the  re- 
flections  of  their  own    hearts;    knowing    they  had 
done  ill,  and  not  knowing  how  to  be  sure  of  pardon. 
Foreseeing    from  eternity   these  dreadful    conse- 
quences of  human   ignorance   and  wickedness,  God 
provided  suitable  remedies  of  instruction  and  grace: 
which  he  notified  to  the  world  from  time  to  time,  as 
his  own  unsearchable  wisdom  saw  would  be  fittest;  in- 
creasing  the  light  gradually,  till  it  shone  out  in  the 
full  day  of  Christianity.     But  revelation,  as   well   as 
reason,  hath   been  given  in  vain   to  a  great  part  of 
mankind.     The  propagation  of  it  through  the   earth 
hath   been   strangely  neglected:    in   many. places, 

a  Acts  xvii.  27i  23. 


3'28  LECTURE  XXXIX. 

where  it  hath  been  received, it  hath  been  lost  again: 
and  in  too  many,  where  it  is  retained,  it  is  grievously 
corrupted  and  obscured.  Without  question,  we 
ought  to  judge  as  charitably  as  wc  can  of  all  who 
are  in  any  of  these  conditions:  but  at  the  same  time 
we  ought,  from  the  bottom  of  our  hearts,  to  thank 
God  that  none  of  them  is  our  own.  Undoubtedly  He 
is  and  will  be  gracious  to  all  his  creatures,  as  far  as 
they  are  fit  objects:  but  it  is  'the  riches  of  his  grace,'  " 
that  He  hath  bestowed  on  us,  and  as,  with  justice, 
He  might  dispose  of  his  own  free  gifts  as  He  pleased: 
so,  in  mercy.  He  hath  conferred  a  large  proportion 
of  them  on  this  nation  and  age.  Blessings,  that  are 
common  and  familiar,  though  indeed  much  the 
greater  for  that,  are  usually  but  little  regarded.  And 
thus,  amongst  other  things,  the  opportunities,  that 
we  enjoy  of  religious  knowledge,  it  may  be  feared, 
are  often  very  lightly  esteemed.  But  would  we  re- 
flect how  much  less  means  of  being  acquainted  with 
the  duties  of  this  life,  and  the  rewards  of  another,  not 
only  the  unenlightened  heathen  world,  but  the  Jews, 
the  people  of  God,  had  formerly;  and  much  the 
greatest  part  even  of  christians  have  had  for  numbers 
of  successive  generations,  and  have  still,  than  we: 
it  would  make  us  feel,  that  our  Saviour's  words  be- 
long to  us  also:  'Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  that  many 
prophets  and  righteous  men  have  desired  to  see 
those  things  which  ye  see,  and  have  not  seen  them; 
and  to  hear  those  things  which  ye  hear,  and  have  not 
heard  them.  But  blessed  are  your  eyes,  for  they  see, 
a,nd  3'our  ears,  for  they  hear.'* 

But  then,  and  for  the  sake  of  God  and  our  souls, 
let  us  observe  it;  if, '  seeing  we  see  not,  and  hearing 
we  hear  not;''=  to  the  only  good  purpose  of  life,  that 
of  becoming  in  heart  and  in  practice,  such  as  we 
ought;  '  better  had  it  been  for  us,  not  to  have  known 
the  way  of  righteousness,  than,  after  we  have  known 
it,  to  turn  from   the  holy  commandment  delivered 

•  Eph.  i.  7,  ii.  7.  b  Matt.  xiii.  16, 17.  <  Matth,  ziiL  13. 


LECTURE    XXXIX. 


329 


unto  us.'"  '  For  unto  whomsoever  much  is  given,  of 
him  shall  much  be  required.  The  servant,  that 
knew  his  Lord's  Avill,  and  prepared  not  himself,  nei- 
ther did  according  to  his  will,  shall  be  beaten  with 
many  stripes:  he  that  knew  it  not,  with  few.'*  But 
take  notice:  he  that  in  comparison  with  others,  may 
be  said  not  to  know  the  will  of  God,  knows  enough  of 
it  however  to  subject  him,  if  he  fails  of  doing  it,  to 
future  punishment:  'to  be  beaten  with  stripes.'  Not 
even  a  heathen  sinner  therefore  shall  escape  entirely 
by  his  ignorance:  much  less  will  that  plea  excuse  a 
christian:  but  least  of  all  can  those  christians  hope 
for  mercy,  who  hear  the  word  of  God  preached  to 
them  weekly;  have  it  in  their  hands,  and  may  read 
it  daily:  and  yet  transgress  it.  'Verily  I  say  unto 
you,  it  shall  he  more  tolerable  for  Sodom  and  Gomor- 
rah in  the  day  of  judgment,'''  than  for  such  persons. 
Let  no  one  argue  from  hence,  that  knowledge  then 
is  no  blessing.  For  the  more  we  know  of  our  Maker 
and  our  duty,  the  better  we  are  qualified  to  be  good 
in  this  world,  and  happy  in  the  next.  And  we  can 
never  be  worse  for  it,  unless  we  will,  by  making  either 
no  use  or  a  bad  use  of  it.  Nor  let  any  one  imagine, 
that,  though  we  need  not  be  the  worse  for  our  know- 
ledge, yet  since  we  may,  ignorance  is  the  safer 
choice;  as  what  wall  excuse  our  sins,  if  not  entirely, 
yet  in  a  great  measure.  But  let  us  all  remember,  it 
is  not  pretended,  but  real  ignorance:  nor  even  that, 
unless  we  could  not  help  it,  that  will  be  any  plea  in 
our  favor.  Willful,  or  even  careless  ignorance,  is  a 
great  sin  itself:  and  therefore  can  never  procure  us 
pardon  for  the  other  sins  which  it  may  occasion. 
What  sliould  any  of  us  think  of  a  servant  Avho  kept 
out  of  the  way  of  receiving  his  master's  orders,  pur- 
posely because  he  had  no  mind  to  do  them?  Nay, 
supposing  him  only  through  negligence  not  to  under- 
stand the  business  that  he  was  required  to  learn  and 
follow:  would  this  justify  him?    Would  it  not  be  said, 

a  2  ret.  ii.  21  b  Luke  xii.  47, 48.  c  Mark  vi.  H. 


330  LECTURE    XXXlX. 

that  what  he  might  and  ought  to  liave  known,  it  was 
his  own  fault  if  he  did  not  know?  And  what  do  we 
think  of  God,  if  we  hope  to  impose  on  Him  with  pleas 
that  will  not  pass  amongst  ourselves? 

Fix  it  in  your  hearts  then:  the  first  indispensable 
duty  of  man  is  to  learn  the  will  of  his  Maker;  the 
next,  to  do  it;  and  nothing  can  excuse  you  from  ei- 
ther. Attend  therefore  diligently  on  all  such  means 
of  instruction  as  God's  providence  gives  you;  espe- 
cially the  public  instruction  of  the  church,  which,  hav- 
ing expressly  appointed  for  you,  he  will  assuredly 
bless  to  you  ;  provided  you  observe  our  Saviour's 
most  important  direction, '  take  heed  how  3'e  hear.'  " 
For  on  that  it  depends,  whether  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel  shall  be  'life  or  death  to  you.'*  One  it 
must  be:  and  these  very  lectures,  amongst  other 
things,  wliich  have  been  truly  intended  for  your  eter- 
nal good,  will  prove,  if  you  apply  them  not  to  that 
end,  what  God  forbid  they  should,  a  means  of  increas- 
ing your  future  condemnation.  Be  entreated  there- 
fore, to  consider  very  seriously  what  you  are  taught: 
for  be  there  ever  so  much  of  the  weakness  of  man  in 
it,  there  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  unless 
you  hinder  it  yourselves.  Never  despise  then  the 
meanest  of  your  instructors;  and  never  think  of  ad- 
miring the  ablest:  but  remember  that  your  business 
is,  neither  to  applaud  nor  censure  other  persons'  per- 
formances: but  to  improve  your  own  hearts,  and 
mend  your  own  lives.  Barely  coming  and  hearing, 
is  nothing.  Barely  being  pleased,  and  moved, 
and  affected  is  nothing.  It  is  only  minding  and  do- 
ing the  whole  of  your  duty,  not  some  part  of  it  alone, 
that  is  any  thing. 

Knowing  the  words  of  your  Catechism  is  of  no 
other  use,  than  to  preserve  in  your  memories  the 
things  which  those  words  express.  Knowing  the 
meaning  of  your  Catechism  ever  so  well,  in  every 
part,  is  of  no  other  use  than  to  put  you  on  the  per- 
formance of  what  it  teaches.     And  performing  some 

a  Luke  viii.  18.  b  2  Cor.  ii.  16. 


LECTUHE    XXXIX.  331 

things  ever  so  constantly  or  zealously,  will  not  avail, 
without  a  faithful  endeavor  to  perform  every  thing. 
Have  it  always  in  your  thoughts,  tlierefore,  that 
practice,  uniform  practice,  is  the  one  thing  needful. 
Your  knowledge  may  be  very  low  and  imperfect, 
your  faith  not  very  clear  and  distinct:  but  however 
poorly  you  are  capable  of  furnishing  your  heads,  if 
your  hearts  and  lives  be  good,  all  is  well. 

But  hero,  I  pray  you,  observe  further,  that  as  it  is 
not  in  undcrst;inding  and  believing,  so  it  is  not  in  de- 
votion merely,  that  religion  consists.  The  common 
duties  of  common  life  make  far  the  greatest  part  of 
what  our  Maker  expects  of  us.  To  be  honest  and 
sober,  and  modest  and  humble,  and  good-tempered 
and  mild,  and  industrious  and  useful  in  our  several 
stations,  are  things  to  which  all  persons  are  as  much 
bound  as  they  can  be  to  any  thing:  and  when  they 
proceed  from  a  principle  of  conscience  towards  God, 
and  arc  offered  up  to  him,  as  oar  bounden  duty, 
throughj  Jesus  Christ,  arc  as  true  and  as  acceptable 
a  service  to  him,  as  either  our  attendance  at  Church, 
or  our  prayers  in  retirement  at  home.  And  they  who 
abound  in  these  latter  duties,  and  neglect  any  of  the 
former,  only  disgrace  religion,  and  deceive  them- 
selves. 

Yet  understand  me  not,  I  beg  of  you.  to  speak 
slightly  of  devotion,  either  private  or  public.  On 
the  contrary,  I  recommend  both  to  you  most  earnest- 
ly: for  our  immediate  duty  to  God  is  the  highest  of 
all  duties,  'the  first  and  great  commandment'"  of 
natural  religion  and  the  payment  of  due  and  distinct 
regards  to  the  father  Almighl}',  to  his  blessed  Son, 
and  holy  Spirit,  of  course  obtains  an  equal  rank  in 
revelation.  In  particular  I  recommend  it  to  you  not 
to  omit  coming  to  evening  prayers,  because  now  these 
lectures  will  be  discontinued.  Joining  in  God's  wor- 
ship and  hearing  his  holy  word  read  to  you,  is  always 
a  sufficient,  and  should  always  be  the  principal  mo- 
tive to  bring  you.     For  '  neither  is  he  that  plantetb^ 

a  Mattb.  zxii.  38. 


332  LECTURE    XXXIX. 

any  thing;  neither  he  that  watercth;  but  God  that 
giveth  the  increase.''^  And  we  may  be  sure  he  will 
give  it  to  those,  who  attend  on  his  ordinances  with 
pious  minds:  and  wc  may  justly  expect,  that  he  will 
withhold  it  from  those  who,  instead  of  coming,  be- 
cause it  is  their  duty,  come  to  hear  this  or  that  man 
discourse. 

But  then  I  must  beseech  you  to  observe  at  the 
same  time,  that  as  neither  piety  without  morals,  nor 
morals  without  piety,  nor  Heathen  piety  without 
Christian,  will  suffice;  so  neither  will  the  outward 
acts  of  any  thing,  without  an  inward  principle  of  it; 
and  the  true  principle  is  a  reverend  esteem  and  love 
of  God.  Other. inducements  may  allowably  be  join- 
ed with  this;  but  if  this  be  not  also  joined  with  them, 
what  we  do  may  be  prudence,  may  be  virtue,  but  is 
not  religion;  and  therefore,  however  right,  so  far  as 
it  goes,  doth  not  go  far  enough  to  entitle  us  to  re- 
ward, or  even  to  secure  us  from  punishment;  which 
nothing  can  more  justly  deserve,  than  to  have  little 
or  no  sense  of  liiial  alfection  to  our  heavenly  father, 
and  of  thankful  love  to  our  crucified  redeemer  and 
gracious  sanctitier,  who  have  the  highest  right  to  the 
utmost  regard  that  our  souls  are  capable  of  feeling. 

You  must  resolve  therefore,  not  only  to  be  chris- 
tians externally  in  your  lives,  but  internally  in  your 
hearts.  And  let  me  remind  you  further,  you  will  re- 
solve on  neither,  to  good  purpose,  if  you  trust  to 
yourselves  alone  for  the  performance.  You  will  con- 
trive, perhaps,  great  schemes  of  amendment  and 
goodness,  but  you  will  execute  very  little  of  them;  or 
you  will  do  a  good  deal,  it  may  be,  in  some  particu- 
lars, and  leave  others,  equally  necessary,  undone;  or 
you  will  go  on  a  while,  and  then  fall,  when  you 
thought  3'ou  were  surest  ofstanding;  or  what  seeming 
progress  soever  you  make,  you  will  ruin  it  all  by 
thinking  too  highly  of  yourselves  for  it;  or  some  way 
or  another  you  will  certainly  fall,  unless  t'le  grace  of 
God  enable  you,  first  to  be  deeply  sensiblie  of  your 

a  1  Cor.  iii.  7. 


LECTURE    XXXIX.  333 

own  guilt  and  weakness;  then  to  lay  hold,  by  faith 
in  Christ,  on  his  promised  mercy  and  help;  in  the 
strength  of  that  help  to  obey  his  commands;  and  af- 
ter all,  to  know,  that  you  arc  still  '  unprolitablc  ser- 
vants.'" Now  tliis  grace  you  may  certainly  have,  in 
whatever  measure  you  want  it,  by  earnest  prayer  for 
it,  humble  dependence  upon  it,  and  such  honest  and 
diligent  use  of  the  lower  degrees  of  it,  as  he  hath  pro- 
mised to  reward  with  higher  degrees,  and  you  can 
have  it  in  no  other  way.  If  ever  therefore,  when  we 
exhort  you  to  duties,  moral  or  religious,  we  omit  to 
mention  the  great  duty  of  applying  for  strength  from 
above  to  be  given  you,  not  for  your  own  sakes  but 
that  of  your  blessed  redeemer,  in  order  to  practice 
them;  it  is  by  no  means  because  we  think  such  ap- 
plication unnecessary  ;  but  because  we  hope  you 
know  it  so  well  to  be  absolutely  necessary,  that  we 
need  not  always  remind  you  of  it.  But  if  we  are 
at  any  time  wanting  to  you  in  this  respect,  or  any 
other,  be  not  you  therefore  wanting  to  yourselves;  but 
'  work  out  your  own  salvation'  from  this  motive,  which 
alone  will  procure  you  success,  that  'God  worketh 
in  you  both  to  will  and  to  do.'  *  '  And  I  pray  God  to 
sanctify  you  wholly,  and  preserve  }our  whole  spirit, 
soul  and  body  blameless,  unto  the  coming  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.'  '^ 

Having  said  thus  much  to  you  all  in  general,  I  de- 
sire you,  children,  to  take  notice  of  what  I  am  going 
to  say,  in  the  last  place,  to  you  in  particular.  Your 
condition  is  of  the  lower  kind:  but  your  instruction 
hath  been  better  than  many  of  your  superiors  have 
had.  If  therefore,  your  behaviour  be  bad,  your  con- 
demnation will  be  heavy;  and  if  it  be  good,  you  may 
be  to  the  full  as  happy,  in  this  world  and  the  next,  as 
if  you  were  of  ever  so  high  a  rank.  For  true  happi- 
ness comes  only  from  doing  our  duty;  and  none  will 
ever  come  from  transgressing  it:  but,  whatever  plea- 
sure or  profit  sin  may  promise,  they  will  soon  turn  into 

a  Luke  xvU.  10.  b  Phil,  ii.  12, 13,  e  1  Thcss.  v.  23. 

EE 


334  LECTURE    XXXIX. 

pain  and  loss.  Remember  therefore  as  long  as  you 
live,  what  you  have  been  taught  here.  Remember 
particularly  the  answers  to  those  two  main  questions: 
'What  is  thy  duty  towards  God;'  and  '  What  is  thy 
duty  towards  thy  neighbor?'  And  be  assured,  that 
unless  you  practice  both,  when  you  go  hence  to  ser- 
vices and  apprenticeships,  all  the  money  and  labor 
that  hath  been  spent  on  you,  will  be  spent  in  vain; 
you  will  be  a  disgrace  to  the  education  and  teaching 
that  you  have  had;  you  will  probably  be  very  mise- 
rable here,  and  certainly  forever  hereafter.  But  if 
you  practice  both,  you  will  make  an  honest  and 
grateful  return  for  the  kindness  that  you  have  re- 
ceived from  your  benefactors;  which  I  hope  you  will 
never  forget,  but  imitate,  if  God  enables  you  to  do  it: 
you  will  be  loved  of  your  Maker  and  fellow-crea- 
tures; you  will  live  in  peace  of  mind;  you  will  die 
with  comfort,  and  be  received  into  everlasting 
bliss. 

Think  then,  I  entreat  and  charge  you,  seriously 
and  often  of  these  things.  And  to  remind  yourselves 
of  them  more  effectually,  be  diligent  in  reading  such 
good  books  as  are  given  you  at  your  leaving  school, 
or  otherwise  put  into  your  hands;  be  constant  in  co- 
ming to  Church  on  the  Lord's  day  at  least;  such  of 
you  as  go  away  before  you  are  confirmed,  take  the 
first  opportunity,  after  you  are  fourteen,  to  apply  to 
your  Minister,  wherever  you  are,  that  you  may  be 
well  instructed  for  that  holy  Ordinance,  and  then  ad- 
mitted to  it.  Within  a  reasonable  time  after  this, 
prepare  yourselves,  and  desire  him  and  yourselves  to 
assist  in  preparing  you,  to  receive  the  Lord's  Supper: 
concerning  which,  you  have  heard  very  lately,  how 
expressly  it  is  required  of  all  Christians,  (a  name  that 
comprehends  young  as  well  as  old)  for  the  means  of 
improving  them  in  every  thing  that  is  good.  And 
may  God  give  his  grace  to  you,  and  to  us  all,  that  by 
the  help  of  those  means,  with  which  he  hath  so  plen- 
tifully favored  us,  we  may  each  of  us  improve  daily 
in  the  knowledge  of  his  truth,  and  the  love  of  our 


lECTDRE  XXXIX. 


335 


duty,  *  till  at  length  we  come  unto  a  perfect  man, 
into  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of 
Christ." 


h  Eph.  iv.  13. 


A 

SERMON 

ON 

CONFIRMATION. 


ACTS  viii.  17. 

Then  laid  they  their  hands  on  them,  and  they  received 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  history  to  which  these  words  belong,  is  this: 
Philip,  the  Deacon,  ordained  at  the  same  time  with 
St.  Stephen,  had  converted  and  baptized  the  people 
of  Samaria:  which  the  Apostles  at  Jerusalem  hear- 
ing, sent  down  to  them  Peter  and  John,  two  of  their 
own  body;  who,  by  prayer  accompanied  with  impo- 
sition of  hands,  obtained  for  them  a  greater  degree, 
than  they  had  yet  received,  of  the  sacred  influences 
of  the  divine  Spirit:  which  undoubtedly  was  done  on 
their  signifying,  in  some  manner,  so  as  to  be  under- 
stood, their  adherence  to  the  engagement  into  which 
they  had  entered  at  their  baptism. 

From  this  and  the  like  instances  of  the  practice  of 
the  apostles,  is  derived,  what  Bishops,  their  success- 
ors, though  every  way  beyond  comparison  inferior 
to  them,  have  practiced  ever  since,  and  which  we 
now  call  Confirmation.  Preaching  was  common  to 
all  ranks  of  Ministers;  baptizing  was  performed  usu- 
ally by  the  lower  rank:  but,  perhaps  to  maintain  a 
due  subordination,  it  was  reserved  to  the  highest,  by 
prayer  and  laying  on  of  hands,  to  communicate  fur- 
ther measures  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  was  indeed  pe- 
culiar to  the  Apostles,  that  on  their  intercession,  his 
extraordinary  and  miraculous  gifts  were  bestowed; 
which  continued  in  the  Church  no  longer  than  the 


A    SERMON    0.\    CONFIRJIATION.  337 

need  of  them  did;  nor  can  we  suppose  that  all  were 
partakers  of  thcni.  But  unquestionably  by  their  pe- 
titions they  procured,  for  every  sincere  convert,  a 
much  more  valuable,  though  less  remarkal)le  bless- 
ing, of  universal  and  perpetual  necessity,  his  ordi- 
nary and  saving  graces. 

For  these,  therefore,  after  their  example,  trusting 
that  God  will  have  regard,  not  to  our  unworthiness, 
but  to  the  purposes  of  mercy  which  he  hath  appoint- 
ed us  to  serve,  we  intercede  now,  when  persons  take 
upon  themselves  the  vow  of  their  baptism.  For  this 
good  end  being  now  come  amongst  you,  though  I 
doubt  not  but  your  jMinisters  have  given  you  proper 
instructions  on  the  occasion;  yet  I  am  desirous  of 
adding  somewhat  further,  which  may  not  only  ac- 
quaint more  fully,  those  who  are  especially  concern- 
ed, with  the  nature  of  what  they  are  about  to  do; 
but  remind  you  all  of  the  obligations,  which  Chris- 
tianity lajs  upon  you.  And  I  cannot  perform  it  better 
than  by  explaining  to  you  the  oilice  of  Confirmation, 
to  which  you  may  turn  in  your  Prayer-Books,  where 
it  stands  immediately  after  the  Catechism. 

There  you  will  see,  in  the  first  place,  a  preface, 
directed  to  be  read;  in  which,  notice  is  given,  that 
*  for  the  more  edifying  of  such  as  receive  Confirma- 
tion, it  sliall  be  administered  to  none  but  those,  who 
can  answer  to  the  (juestions  of  the  Catechism  prece- 
ding: that  so  cliildren  may  come  to  years"  of  some 
discretion,  and  learn  what  the  promise  made  for  them 
in  baptism  was,  before  they  are  called  upon  to  ratify 
and  confirm  it  before  the  Church  with  their  own  con- 
sent, and  to  engage  that  they  will  evermore  observe 
it. 

Prayers  may  be  offered  up  for  infants  with  very 
good  efTect.  Promises  may  be  made  in  their  name  by 
such  as  are  authorized  to  act  for  them:  especially 
when  the  things  promised  are  for  their  interest,  and 
will  be  their  duty;  which  is  the  case  of  those  in  bap- 
tism. But  no  persons  ought  to  make  promises  for 
themselves,  till  they  reasonably  well  understand  the 
E  e2 


338 


A    SERMON    ON    CONFIRMATION. 


nature  of  them,  and  are  capable  of  forming  serious 
purposes.  Therefore,  in  the  present  case,  being  able 
to  say  the  words  of  the  Catechism,  is  by  no  means 
enough,  without  a  competent  general  knowledge  of 
their  meaning,  and  intention  of  behaving  as  it  re- 
quires them;  which  doubtless  they  are  supposed 
to  have  at  the  same  time.  And  if  they  have  not, 
making  a  profession  of  it,  is  declaring  with  their 
mouths  what  they  feel  not  in  their  hearts  ut  the  in- 
stant, and  will  much  less  reflect  upon  afterwards;  it 
is  hoping  to  please  God  by  the  empty  outward  per- 
formance of  a  religious  rite,  from  which,  if  they  had 
been  withheld  till  they  were  duly  qualitied,  their 
souls  might  have  been  affected,  and  their  conduct 
influenced  by  it,  as  long  as  they  lived. 

Therefore  I  hope  and  beg,  that  neither  ministers 
nor  parents  will  be  too  eager  for  bringing  children 
very  early  to  confirmation:  but  first  teach  them  carc- 
fullj',  to  know  their  duty  sufhciently.  and  resolve  up- 
on the  practice  of  it  heartily;  then  introduce  them 
to  this  ordinance:  which  they  shall  not  fail  to  have 
opportunities  of  attending  in  their  neighborhood, 
from  time  to  time,  so  long  as  God  continues  my  life 
and  strength. 

But  as  there  are  some  too  young  for  confirmation, 
some  also  may  be  thought  too  old:  especially,  if  they 
have  received  the  holy  Sacrament  without  it.  Now 
there  are  not  indeed  all  the  same  reasons,  for  the  con- 
firmation of  such,  as  of  others:  nor  hath  the  church 
I  believe,  determined  any  thing  about  their  case,  as 
it  might  bethought  unlikely  to  happen.  But  still, 
since  it  doth  happen  too  frequently,  that  persons  were 
not  able,  or  have  neglected,  to  apply  for  this  purpose: 
so  whenever  they  apply,  as  by  doing  it  they  express 
a  desire  to  '  fulfil  all  righteousness;'''  and  may  certain- 
ly receive  benefit,  both  from  the  profession  and  the 
prayers,  appointed  in  the  office;  my  judgment  is, 
that  they  should  not  be  rejected,  but  encouraged. 

a  Matth.  lii.  15. 


A    SERMON    ON    CONFIRMATION.  339 

Only  I  must  entreat  you  to  observe,  that  when  you 
take  thus  on  yourselves  the  engagement  of  leading  a 
christian  life,  you  are  to  take  it  once  for  all;  and  no 
more  to  think  of  ever  being  confirmed  a  second  time, 
than  of  being  baptized  a  second  time. 

After  directing,  who  are  to  be  confirmed,  the  office 
goes  on  to  direct,  how  tiiey  are  to  be  confirmed. — 
And  here,  the  Bishop  is  to  begin  with  asking  every 
one  of  those,  who  oiler  themselves,  whether  they  '  do, 
in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  the  congregation,  re- 
new in  their  own  persons  the  solemn  vow  of  their 
baptism;  acknowledging  themselves  bound  to  believe 
find  to  perform  all  those  things,  which  their  God- 
Fathers  and  God-jMothers  then  undertook  for  them.' 
On  which,  they  are  each  of  them  to  answer,  with  an 
audible  voice, '  I  do.' 

Now  the  things  promised  in  our  name,  were  to  re- 
nounce whatever  God  hath  forbidden,  to  believe  what 
he  hath  taught,  and  to  practice  what  he  hath  com- 
manded. Nobody  can  promise  for  infants  absolute- 
ly, that  they  shall  do  these  things;  but  only,  that 
they  shall  be  instructed  and  admonished  to  do  them: 
and,  it  is  hoped,  not  in  vain.  This  instruction  and 
admonition,  parents  are  obliged  by  nature  to  give; 
and,  if  they  do  it  eflfectually,  God-Fathers  and  God- 
Mothers  have  no  further  concern,  than  to  be  heartily 
glad  of  it.  But  if  the  former  fail,  the  latter  must 
supply  the  failure,  as  far  as  they  have  opportunity  of 
doing  it  with  any  reasonable  prospect  of  success.  For 
they  weie  intended,  not  to  release  the  parents  from 
the  care  of  their  children,  which  nothing  can:  but 
for  a  double  security,  in  a  case  of  such  importance. 

If  nothing  at  all  had  been  promised  in  our  names, 
we  had  still  been  bound,  as  soon  as  we  were  capable 
of  it,  to  believe  in  God,  and  obey  him.  But  we  are 
more  early  and  more  firmly  bound,  as  not  only  this 
hath  been  promised  for  us,  but  care  hath  been  taken 
to  make  us  sensible  of  our  obligation  to  perform  it: 
which  obligation,  therefore,  persons  are  called  upon, 
in  the  question  under  consideration,   to  ratify  and 


340  A    SERMON    ON   CONFIRMATION. 

confirm,  And  great  cause  have  they  to  answer,  that 
they  do.  For  doing  it  is  a  duty,  on  which  their  eter- 
nal felicity  peculiarly  depends;  as  a  little  attention 
to  what  I  am  about  to  say  will  clearly  shew  you. 

Our  first  parents,  even  while  they  were  innocent, 
had  no  title  to  happiness,  or  to  existence,  but  from 
God's  notification  of  his  good  pleasure:  which  being 
conditional,  when  they  fell,  they  lost  it;  and  derived 
to  us  a  corrupt  and  mortal  nature,  entitled  to  nothing, 
as  both  the  diseases  rtnd  the  poverty  of  ancestors 
often  descend  to  their  distant  posterity.  This  bad 
condition  we  fail  not,  from  our  first  use  of  reason,  to 
make  worse,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  by  actual 
transgressions:  and  so  personally  deserve  the  dis- 
pleasure, instead  of  favor  of  him,  who  made  us.  Yet 
we  may  hope,  that,  as  he  is  good,  he  vv'ill  on  our  re- 
pentance forgive  us.  But  then,  as  he  is  also  just 
and  wise,  and  the  ruler  of  the  world;  we  could  never 
know  wdth  certainty,  of  ourselves,  what  his  justice 
and  Vt^isdom,  and  the  honor  of  his  government,  might 
require  of  him  with  respect  to  sinners:  whether  he 
would  pardon  greater  offences  at  all;  and  whether  he 
would  reward  those,  whom  he  might  be  pleased  not 
to  punish.  But  most  happily  the  revelation  of  his 
holy  Vv'ord  hath  cleared  up  all  these  doubts  of  unas- 
sisted reason:  and  offered  to  the  worst  of  sinners,  on 
the  condition  of  faith  in  Christ,  added  to  repentance, 
and  productive  of  good  works,  (for  all  which  he  is 
ready  to  enable  us)  a  covenant  of  pardon  for  sins 
past,  assistance  against  sin  for  the  future,  and  eter- 
nal life  in  return  for  a  sincere,  though  imperfect,  and 
totally  undeserving  obedience. 

The  method  of  entering  into  this  covenant  is,  be- 
ing baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost:  that  is,  into  the  acknowledgment 
of  the  mysterious  union  and  joint  authority  of  these 
three;  and  of  the  distinct  offices,  which  they  have 
undertaken  for  our  salvation;  together  with  a  faith- 
ful engagement  of  paying  suitable  regard  to  each  of 
them.     In  this  appointment  of  Baptism,  the  washing 


A    SERMON    ON    CONFIRMATION.  341 

with  water  aptly  signifies,  both  our  promise  to  pre- 
serve ourselves,  with  the  best  care  we  can,  pure  from 
the  defilement  of  sin,  and  God's  promise  to  consider 
us,  as  free  from  the  guilt  of  it.  Baptism  then,  through 
his  mercy,  secures  inlants  from  the  bad  consequences 
of  Adam's  transgression,  giving  them  a  new  title  to 
the  immortality  which  lie  lost.  It  also  secures,  to 
persons  grown  up,  the  entire  forgiveness  of  their  own 
transgressions,  on  tiie  terms  just  mentioned.  But 
then,  in  order  to  receive  these  benefits,  we  must  lay 
our  claim  to  the  covenant,  which  conveys  them:  we 
must  ratify,  as  soon  as  we  are  able,  what  was  promis- 
ed in  our  name  by  others  before  we  were  able:  and 
done  for  us  then,  only  on  presumption  that  we  should 
make  it  our  own  deed  afterwards.  For  if  we  neglect, 
and  appear  to  renounce  our  part  of  the  covenant,  we 
have  plainly  not  the  least  right  to  God's  performing 
his:  but  we  remain  in  our  sins,  and  '  Ciirist  shall 
profit  us  nothing."" 

You  see  then  of  what  unspeakable  importance  it 
is,  that  we  take  on  ourselves  the  vow  of  our  baptism. 
And  it  is  ver>"  fit  and  useful,  that  we  should  take  it  in 
such  form  and  manner  as  the  ofhce  prescribes.  It 
is  fit,  that  when  persons  have  been  properly  instruct 
ed,  by  the  care  of  their  parents,  friends  and  minis- 
ters, they  should  with  joyful  gratitude  acknowledge 
them  to  have  faithfully  performed  that  kindest  duty. 
It  is  tit,  that  before  they  were  admitted  by  the  church 
of  Christ  to  the  holy  communion,  they  should  give 
public  assurance  to  the  church  of  their  christian  be- 
lief and  christian  purposes.  This  may  also  be  ex- 
tremely useful  to  themselves.  For  consider:  young 
persons  are  just  enteringinto  a  world  of  temptations, 
with  no  experience,  and  little  knowledge  to  guard 
them;  and  much  youthful  rashness,  to  expose  them. 
The  authority  of  others  over  them  is  beginning  to 
lessen,  their  own  passions  to  increase, '  Evil  commu- 
nication' to  have  great  opportunities  of  '  corrupting 

a  Gal.  V.  2, 


342  A  SEHMON    ON    CONFIRMATION. 

good  manners:'"  and  strong  impressions,  of  one  kind 
or  another,  will  be  made  on  them  very  soon.  What 
can  then  be  more  necessary,  or  more  likely  to  pre- 
serve their  innocence,  than  to  form  the  most  delibe- 
rate resolutions  of  acting  right;  and  to  declare  them 
in  a  manner,  thus  adapted  to  move  them  at  the  time, 
and  be  remembered  by  them  afterwards:  in  the  pre- 
sence of  God,  of  a  number  ofhis  ministers,  and  of  a 
large  congregation  of  his  people,  assembled  with 
more  than  ordinary  solemnity  for  that  very  purpose? 
But  then  you,  that  are  to  be  confirmed,  must  either 
do  your  own  part,  or  the  whole  of  this  preparation 
will  be  utterly  thrown  away  upon  you.  If  you  make 
the  answer,  which  is  directed,  without  sincerity,  it  is 
lying  to  God:  if  you  make  it  without  attention,  it  is 
trifling  with  Him.  Watch  over  your  hearts  there- 
fore, and  let  them  go  along  with  your  lips.  The  two 
short  words,  'I  do,'  are  soon  said:  but  they  compre- 
hend much  in  them.  Whoever  uses  them  on  this 
occasion,  saith  in  effect  as  follows:  '  I  do  heartily  re- 
nounce all  the  temptations  of  the  devil;  all  the  un- 
lawful pleasures,  profits,  and  honors  of  the  world;  all 
the  immoral  gratifications  of  the  flesh.  I  do  sincere- 
ly believe,  and  will  constantly  profess,  all  the  arti- 
cles of  the  christian  faith.  I  do  firmly  resolve  to 
keep  all  God's  commandments  all  the  days  of  my 
life;  to  love  and  honor  Him;  to  pray  to  Him  and 
praise  Him  daily  in  private;  to  attend  conscientious- 
ly on  the  public  worship  and  instruction,  which  He 
hath  appointed;  to  approach  His  holy  table,  as  soon 
as  I  can  qualify  myself  for  doing  it  worthily;  to  sub- 
mit to  His  blessed  will  meekly  and  patiently  in  all 
things:  to  set  Him  ever  before  my  eyes,  and  ac- 
knowledge Him  in  all  my  wajs.  I  do  further  resolve 
in  the  whole  course  of  my  behaviour  amongst  my 
fellow  creatures,  to  '  do  justly,  love  mercy,'*  speak 
truth,  be  diligent  and  useful  in  my  station,  dutiful  to 
my  superiors,  condescending  to  those  beneath  me, 

a  1  Cor.  XV.  33.  *  Mic.  vi,  8, 


A    SERMON    ON    CONFIRMATION.  343 

friendly  to  my  equals;  careful,  through  all  the  rela- 
tions of  life,  to  act  as  the  nature  of  them  requires, 
and  conduct  myself  so  to  all  men,  as  I  should  think  it 
reasonable  that  they  should  do  to  me  in  the  like  case. 
Further  yet:  I  do  resolve,  in  the  government  of  my- 
self, to  be  modest,  sober,  temperate,  mild,  humble, 
contented;  to  restrain  every  passion  and  appetite 
■within  due  bounds;  and  to  set  my  heart  chiefly,  not 
on  the  sensual  enjoyments  of  this  transitory  world, 
but  the  spiritual  happiness  of  the  future  endless  one. 
Lastly,  1  do  resolve,  whenever  I  fail  in  any  of  these 
duties,  as  I  am  sensible  I  have,  and  must  fear  I  shall, 
to  confess  it  before  God  with  unfeigned  concern,  to 
apply  for  his  promised  pardon  in  the  name  of  Ilis 
blessed  Son,  to  beg  the  promised  assistance  of  His 
Holy  Spirit;  and  in  that  strength,  not  my  own,  to 
strive  against  my  faults,  and  watch  over  my  steps 
with  redoubled  care.' 

Observe  then:  it  is  not  gloominess  and  melancholy 
that  religion  calls  you  to:  it  is  not  useless  austerity, 
and  abstinence  from  things  lawful  and  safe;  it  is  not 
extravagant  flights  and  raptures:  it  is  not  unmeaning 
or  unedifying  forms  and  ceremonies:  much  less  is  it 
bitterness  against  those  who  differ  from  you.  But 
the  forementioned  unquestionable  substantial  duties 
are  the  things  to  which  you  bind  yourselves,  when 
you  pronounce  the  awful  words,  'I  do.'  Utter  them 
then  w'ith  the  truest  seriousness;  and  say  to  your- 
selves, each  of  you,  afterwards,  as  Moses  did  to  the 
Jews,  '  Tliou  hast  avouched  the  Lord  this  day  to  be 
thy  God,  to  walk  in  his  wajs  and  keep  his  statutes, 
and  to  hearken  to  his  voice:  and  the  Lord  hath 
avouched  thee  this  day  to  be  his:  that  thou  shouldst 
keep  all  his  commandments,  and  be  holy  unto  the 
Lord  thy  God,  as  he  hath  spoken.'''  It  is  a  certain 
truth,  call  it  therefore  often  to  mind,  and  fix  it  in 
.  your  souls,  that  if  breaking  a  solemn  promise  to  men 
be  a  sin;  breaking  that,  which  you  make  thus  delibe- 
rately to  God,  would  be  unspeakably  a  greater  sin. 

o  Dcut.  sxvi.  17, 18,  19. 


344  A    SERMON    ON    CONFIRMATION. 

But  let  us  now  proceed  to  the  next  part  of  the  of- 
fice: in  which,  after  persons  have  contirmed  and  rati- 
fied the  vow  of  their  baptism,  prayers  are  offered  up, 
that  God  would  confirm  and  strengthen  them  iti 
their  good  purpose;  on  both  which  accounts  this  ap- 
pointment is  called  confirmation. 

Scripture  teaches,  and  sad  experience  proves,  that 
of 'ourselves  we  can  do  nothing:  are  not  sufficient'  " 
for  the  discharge  of  our  duty,  without  God's  continual 
aid:  by  which  He  can  certainly  influence  our  minds, 
without  hurting  our  natural  freedom  of  will,  and  even 
without  our  perceiving  it;  for  we  can  influence  our 
fellow  creatures  so.  Nor  is  it  any  injustice  in  Ilim 
to  require  of  us  what  exceeds  our  ability,  since  He  is 
ready  to  supply  the  want  of  it.  Indeed,  on  the  con- 
trary, as  this  method  of  treating  us  is  excellently 
fitted  both  to  keep  us  humble,  and  yet  to  give  us 
courage,  using  it  is  evidently  worthy  of  God.  But 
then,  as  none  can  have  reason  to  expect  his  help,  but 
those  who  earnestly  desire  it,  so  he  hatli  promised  to 
'  give  the  Holy  Spirit,'  only  '  to  them  that  ask  Him.'  * 
And  to  unite  christians  more  in  love  to  each  other, 
and  incline  them  more  to  assemble  for  public  wor- 
ship, our  blessed  Redeemer  hath  especially  promised, 
that  'where  two  or  three'  of  them  'are  gathered  to- 
gether in  his  name,  He  will  be  in  the  midst  of 
them.''^  And  further  still,  to  promote  a  due  regard 
in  his  people  to  their  teachers  and  rulers,  the  sacred 
writings  ascribe  a  peculiar  efficacy  to  their  praying 
over  those  who  are  committed  to  their  charge.  Even 
under  the  Jewish  dispensation,  the  family  of  Aaron 
were  told,  that  'them  the  Lord  had  separated  to 
minister  unto  Him,  and  to  bless  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord;'"^  'and  they  shall  put  my  name,'  saith  God, 
*upon  the  children  of  Israel,  and  I  will  bless  them.'  • 
No  wonder  then,  if  under  the  christian  dispensation 
we  read,  but  just  before  the  text,  that  the  Apostles,  ■ 

a  John  XV.  5,    2  Cor.  iii.  5.         h  Luke  xi.  13.        c  Malth.  xviii  20. 
4  Deut.  X.  8.    xxi.  5.  •  Nuuib.  vi.  27. 


A    SERMON    ON    CONFIRMATION.  345 

when  they  were  come  down  to  Samaria,  prayed  for 
the  new-baptized  converts,'  that  they  might  receive 
the  Holy  Gliost;'  and  in  the  text  that  they  did  receive 
it  accordingly. 

Therefore,  pursuant  to  these  great  authorities,  here 
is,  on  the  present  occasion,  a  number  of  young  disci- 
ples, about  to  run  the  same  common  race,  met  to- 
gether to  pra}'  for  themselves  and  one  another;  here 
is  a  number  of  elder  christians,  who  have  experi- 
enced the  dangers  of  hfe,  met  to  pray  for  those  who 
are  just  entering  into  them:  here  are  also  God's  min- 
isters purposely  come,  to  intercede  with  Him  in  their 
behalf;  and  surely  we  may  hope,  their  joint  and  fer- 
vent petitions  will  avail  and  be  efTcctual. 

They  begin,  as  they  ought,  with  acknowledging, 
and  in  Scripture  words, that  'ourhclpisin  the  name 
of  the  Lord,  who  hath  made  Heaven  and  earth;'  " 
'it  is  not  in  man  to  direct  his  own  steps;"*  but  his 
Creator  only  can  preserve  him.  Then  we  go  on  to 
pronounce  '  the  name  of  the  Lord  blessed,  hence- 
forth world  without  end,'  for  his  readiness  to  bestow 
on  us  the  grace  which  we  want.  And  lastly,  in 
confidence  of  his  goodness,  we  intrcat  Him  to  'hear 
our  prayers;  and  let  our  cry  come  unto  Him.''= 

After  these  preparatory  ejaculations,  and  the  usual 
admonition  to  be  attentive,  'Let  us  pray;'  comes  a 
longer  act  of  devotion,  which  first  commemorates 
God's  mercy  already  bestowed,  then  petitions  for  an 
increase  of  it.  The  commemoration  sets  forth,  that 
He  '  hath  regenerated  these  his  servants  by  water 
and  the  Holy  Ghost:  that  is,  entitled  them  by  bap- 
tism to  the  enlivening  influences  of  the  Spirit,  and  so, 
as  it  were,  begotten  them  again  into  a  state  inex- 
pressibly happier  than  their  natural  one;  a  covenant- 
state  in  which  God  will  consider  them,  whilst  they 
keep  their  engagements,  with  peculiar  love,  as  his 
dear  children.  It  follows  that  He  'hath  given  unto 
them  forgiveness  of  all  their  sins;'  meaning,  that  He 

a  Fsal.  cxxiv.  8.  J  Jcr.  x.  23.  c  Psal.  cii.  1, 

FF 


346  A  SERMON    ON    CONFIRMATION. 

hath  given  them  assurance  of  it,  on  the  gracious  termg 
of  the  gospel.  But  that  every  one  of  them  hath  ac- 
tually received  it,  by  complying  with  those  terms 
since  he  sinned  last,  though  we  may  charitably  hope, 
we  cannot  presume  to  atiirm:  nor  were  these  words 
intended  to  affirm  it;  as  the  known  doctrine  of  the 
Church  of  England  fully  proves.  And  therefore  let 
no  one  misunderstand  this  expression  in  the  office, 
which  hath  parallel  ones  in  the  New  Testament,"  so 
as  either  to  censure  it,  or  delude  himself  with  a  fatal 
imagination,  that  any  thing  said  over  him  can  possi- 
bly convey  to  him  a  pardon  of  sins,  for  which  he  is 
not  truly  penitent.  We  only  acknowledge,  with 
due  thankfulness,  that  God  hath  done  his  part,  but 
which  of  the  congregation  have  done  theirs,  their 
own  consciences  must  tell  them. 

After  this  commemoration,  we  go  on  to  request  for 
the  persons  before  us,  that  God  would  strengthen 
them  against  all  temptation,  and  support  them  under 
all  affliction,  by  '  the  Holy  Ghost  the  comforter,  and 
daily  increase  in  them  his  manifold  gifts  of  grace;' 
which  gifts  we  proceed  to  enumerate  in  seven  par- 
ticulars, taken  from  the  prophet  Isaiah;*  by  whom 
they  are  ascribed  to  our  blessed  redeemer:  but  as 
'  the  same  mind'  ought  to  '  be  in  us  as  was  in  Christ 
Jesus,'*^  a  petition  for  them  was  used  in  the  office  of 
confirmation,  fourteen  hundred  years  ago,  if  not 
sooner.  The  separate  meaning  of  each  of  the  seven, 
it  is  neither  easy  nor  needful  to  determine  with  cer- 
tainty. For  indeed,  if  no  more  was  designed,  than 
to  express  very  fully  and  strongly,  by  various  words 
of  nearly  the  same  import,  a  pious  and  m.oral  temper 
of  mind:  this  is  a  manner  of  speaking  both  common 
and  emphatical.  But  each  of  them  maybe  taken  in 
a  distinct  sense  of  its  own.  And  thus  we  may  beg 
for  these  our  fellow  christians,  a  spirit  of  wisdom,  to 
aim  at  the  right  end,  the  salvation  of  their  souls;  and 
of  understanding,  to  pursue  it  by  right  means:  of 
counsel,  to  form  good  purposes:  and  of  ghostly  or 

a  Eph.  i.  7.    Col.  i.  14.  b  Isa.  xi.  2.  c  Phil.  ii.  5. 


A    SERMON    ON    CONFIRMATION.  347 

spiritunl  strength,  to  execute  them:  of  useful  know- 
Jcxlgc  in  the  doctrines  of  religion:  and  true  godli- 
nesss,  disposing  tiicm  to  a  proper  use  of  it.  But 
chietly,  though  lastly,  we  pray,  tiiat  they  may  be 
'tilled  with  the  spirit  of  God's  holy  fear;'  with  that 
reverence  of  Him,  as  the  greatest  and  purest  and  best 
of  beings,  the  rightful  proprietor  and  just  judge  of 
all,  which  will  effectually  excite  them  to  whatever 
they  are  concerned  to  believe  or  do.  For  the  '  fear 
of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom.'*^ 

Having  concluded  this  prayer  for  them  all  in  gen- 
eral, the  bishop  implores  the  divine  protection  and 
grace  for  each  one,  or  each  part  of  tliem,  in  particu- 
lar: that  as  he  is  already  God's  professed  child  and 
servant,  by  the  recognition  which  he  liath  just  made 
of  his  baptismal  covenant,  so  'he  may  continue  his 
before,'  by  faithfully  keeping  it:  and  f;ir  from  decay- 
ing, '  daily  increase  in  his  holy  Spirit,'  that  is,  in  the 
fruits  of  the  Spirit,  piety  and  virtue, '  more  and  more;' 
making  greater  and  quicker  advances  in  them,  as 
life  goes  on,  until  he  comes  to  that  decisive  hour, 
when  his  portion  shall  be  unchangable  'in  God's 
everlasting  kingdom.' 

And  along  with  the  utterance  of  these  solemn 
words  he  lays  his  hand  on  each  of  their  heads,  a  cere- 
mony used  from  the  earliest  ages  by  religious  persons; 
when  they  prayed  for  God's  blessing  on  any  one; 
used  by  our  Saviour,  who,  when  'Children  were 
brought  to  Him,  that  He  should  put  his  hands  on  them, 
and  pray,  and  bless  them,  was  much  displeased'*  with 
those  who  forbad  it;  used  by  the  Apostles,  after  con- 
verts were  baptized,  as  the  text  plainly  shews; 
reckoned  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  among  the 
foundations  of  the  christian  profession  ;•=  constantly 
practiced,  and  highly  esteemed  in  the  Church  from 
that  time  to  this;  and  so  far  from  being  a  popish  cere- 
mony, that  the  Papists  administer  confirmation  by 
other  ceremonies  of  their  own  devising,  and  have 

o  Psal.  cxi.  10.  b  Matth.  xis.  13—15.     Mark  x.  13—16- 

e  Heb.  vi.  1,  2. 


348  A    SER3I0N    ON    CONFIRMATION. 

laid  aside  this  primitive  one:  which  therefore  our 
Church  very  prudently  restored.  And  the  custom 
of  it  is  approved,  as  apostolical  both  by  Luther  and 
Calvin,  and  several  of  their  followers,  though  they 
rashly  abolish  it,  as  having  been  abused."  But  I  am 
credibly  informed,  that  at  Geneva  it  hath  lately  been 
restored. 

The  laying  on  of  the  hand  naturally  expresses  good 
will  and  good  wishes  in  the  person  who  doth  it:  and 
in  the  present  case  is  further  intended,  as  you  will 
tind  in  one  of  the  following  prayers,  to  certify  those, 
to  whom  it  is  done,  '  of  God's  favor  and  gracious  good- 
ness towards  them;'  of  which  goodness  they  will  con- 
tinually feel  the  effects,  provided,  which  must  always 
be  understood,  that  they  preserve  their  title  to  his 
care  by  a  proper  care  of  themselves.  This,  it  must 
be  owned,  is  a  truth:  and  we  may  as  innocently  sig- 
nify it  by  this  sign  as  by  any  other,  or  as  by  any 
words  to  the  same  purpose.  Further  efficacy  we  do 
not  ascribe  to  it:  nor  would  have  you  look  on  bish- 
ops, as  having  or  claiming  a  power,  in  any  case,  to 
confer  blessings  arbitrarily  on  whorh  they  please;  but 
only  as  petitioning  God  for  that  blessing  from  above 
which  He  alone  Can  give;  yet,  we  justly  hope,  will 
give  the  rather  for  the  prayers  of  those  whom  He 
hath  placed  over  his  people,  unless  your  own  unwor- 
thiness  prove  an  impediment.  Not  that  you  are  to 
expect,  on  the  performance^of  this  good  office,  any 
sudden  and  sensible  change  in  your  hearts,  giving 
you  all  at  once,  a  remarkable  strength  or  comfort  in 
piety,  which  you  never  felt  before.  But  you  may 
reasonably  promise  yourselves,  from  going  through  it 
with  a  proper  disposition,  greater  measures,  when 
real  occasion  requires  them,  of  such  divine  assistance 
as  will  be  needful  for  your  support  and  orderly  growth 
in  every  virtue  of  a  christian  life. 

And  now,  the  imposition  of  hands  being  finished, 
the  Bishop  and  Congregation  mutually  recommend 

a  See  Camfleld's  two  discourses  on   Episcopal  Coufirmation,  8vo.  16^» 
p.  23—86. 


A    SERMON    ON   CONFIRMATION.  349 

each  otlier  to  God,  and  return  to  such  joint  and  pub- 
lic devotions  as  are  suitable  to  the  solemnity.  The 
first  of  these  is  the  Lord's  Prayer:  a  form  seasonable 
always,  but  peculiarly  now:  as  every  petition  in  it 
will  shew  to  every  one  who  considers  it.  In  the  next 
place,  more  especial  supplications  are  poured  forth, 
for  the  persons  particularly  concerned,  to  him  who 
alone  can  enable  them  •  both  to  will  and  to  do  what 
is  good;'  that,  as  the  hand  of  his  minister  hath  been 
laid  upon  them,  '  so  his  fatherly  hand  may  ever  be 
over  them,  and  lead  them  in'  the  only  way,  '  the 
knowledge  and  obedience  of  his  word,  to  everlasting 
life."  After  this,  a  more  general  prayer  is  oflfercd  up 
for  them  and  the  rest  of  the  congregation  together, 
that  God  \yould  vouchsafe,  unworthy  as  we  all  are, 
so  '  to  direct  and  govern  both  our  hearts  and  bodies,' 
our  inclinations  and  actions,  (for  neither  will  suflice 
without  the  other,)'  in  the  ways  of  his  laws,  and  in 
the  works  of  his  commandments,'  that  ^  through  his 
most  mighty  protection,  both  here  and  ever,  we  may 
be  preserved  in  body  and  soul:  having  the  former, 
in  his  good  time,  raised  up  from  the  dead,  and  the 
latter  made  happy,  in  conjunction  with  it,  to  all  eter- 
nity. 

These  requests  being  thus  made,  it  only  remains, 
that  all  be  dismissed  with  a  solemn  blessing:  which 
will  certainly  abide  with  you,  unless  by  willful  sin  or 
gross  negligence,  you  drive  it  away.  And  in  that 
case,  you  must  not  hope,  that  your  baptism,  or  your 
confirmation,  or  "the  prayers  of  the  Bishop,  or  the 
church,  or  the  whole  world,  will  do  you  any  service. 

On  the  contrary,  every  thing  which  you  might 
have  been  the  better  for,  if  you  had  made  a  good 
use  of  it,  you  will  be  the  worse  for,  if  you  make  a 
bad  one.  You  do  well  to  renew  the  covenant  of  your 
baptism  in  confirmation:  but  if  you  break  it,  you 
forfeit  the  benefit  of  it.  You  do  well  to  repeat  your 
vows  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper:  it  is 
what  all  christians  are  commanded  by  their  dying 
Saviour,'  for  the  strengthening  and  refreshing  of  their 


850  A    SERMON    ON    CONFIR  MATION* 

souls:  it  is  what  I  beg  all,  who  are  confirmed,  will 
remember,  and  their  friends  and  ministers  remind 
them  of:  the  sooner  they  are  prepared  for  it,  the 
happier;  and  by  stopping  short,  the  benefit  of  what 
preceded  will  be  lost.  But  if  you  are  admitted  to 
this  privilege,  also,  and  live  wickedly,  you  do  '  but 
eat  and  drink  your  own  condemnation.'  So  that  all 
depends  on  a  thoroughly  honest  care  of  your  hearts 
and  behaviour  in  all  respects. 

Not  that  with  our  best  care,  we  can  avoid  smaller 
faults.  And  if  we  entreat  pardon  for  them  in  our 
daily  prayers,  and  faithfully  strive  against  them,  they 
will  not  be  imputed  to  us.  But  gross  and  habitual 
sins  we  may  avoid  through  God's  help:  and  if  we  fall 
into  them,  we  fall  from  our  title  to  salvation  at  the 
same  time.  Yet  even  then  our  case  is  not  desperate: 
and  let  us  not  make  it  so,  by  thinking  it  is:  for  through 
the  grace  of  the  gospel,  we  may  still  repent  and 
amend,  and  then  be  forgiven.  But  I  beg  you  to  ob- 
serve, that,  as  continued  health  is  vastly  preferable 
to  the  happiest  recovery  from  sickness;  so  is  inno- 
cence to  the  truest  repentance.  If  we  suffer  our- 
selves to  transgress  our  duty;  God  knows  whether  we 
shall  have  time  to  repent:  God  knows  whether  we 
shall  have  a  heart  to  do  it.  At  best  we  shall  have 
lost  and  more  than  lost  the  whole  time  that  we  have 
been  going  back:  whereas  we  have  all  need  to  press 
forward,  as  fast  as  we  can.  Therefore  let  the  inno- 
cent of  willful  sin  preserve  that  treasure  with  the 
greatest  circumspection;  and  the  faulty  return  from 
their  errors  without  delay.  Let  the  young  enter  up- 
on the  way  of  righteousness  with  hearty  resolution: 
and  those  of  riper  age  persevere  in  it  to  the  end.  In 
a  word,  let  us  all,  of  every  age,  seriously  consider, 
and  faithfully  practice,  the  obligations  of  religion. 
For  '  the  vows  of  God  are  still  upon  us,'**  how  long 
soever  it  be  since  they  were  first  made,  either  by  us, 
or  for  us:  and  it  is  in  vain  to  forget  what  he  will  as- 

a  Psal.  Ivi.  12.  * 


A    SERMON    ON    CONFIRMATION.  351 

surcdiy  remember:  or  hope  to  be  safe  in  neglecting 
wliat  he  expects  us  to  do.  But  let  us  use  proper  dili- 
gence; and  he  will  infallibly  give  us  proper  assist- 
ance, and 'confirm  us  all  unto  the  end,  that  we  may 
be  blameless  in  the  day  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."" 

'  Now  unto  him,  who  is  able  to  keep  us  from  falling, 
and  to  present  us  faultless  before  the  presence  of  his 
glory  with  exceeding  joy,  to  the  only  wise  God  our 
Saviour,  be  glory  and  majesty,  dominion  and  power, 
both  now  and  ever.     Amen.'* 

a  1  Cor.  i.  8.  b  Jude,  24, 25. 


THE    END. 


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